Heart and Soul
by Allen Bedillion Trahurn
Summary: Some time during the plot line of "Kingdom Hearts II," Sora, Donald and Goofy stumble upon a new world, where people turn into weapons, that is ruled by a strange man wearing a skull mask, and Sora can't summon the Keyblade. R
1. Prologue

**Hello, friends. This is going to be a, you guessed it, a crossover between Kingdom Hearts and Soul Eater. This will be set in the midst of the plot line of Kingdom Hearts II.**

Sora sat in his seat in the Gummi Ship with his hands behind his head as he chewed on the still sweet, yet salty ice cream stick. Stopping in Twilight Town was a good idea. Goofy and Donald were sitting just in front of him, discussing what they were going to do when they finally reunited with the King. That is, they were before the radar began to beep loudly on the dashboard. Piquing the young Key Bearer's interest, he leaned forward and, seeing the small blip, smiled wide.

"What is it, Sora?" asked Goofy, looking over his shoulder, to which his small feathered companion replied, "It looks like we found a new world! Maybe the King is there!" Sora turned his head to the sides, looking at his friends with a smile on his face as he said, "And Riku too! Let's set a course for that world." In minutes, the world itself came into view: on the top portion was what appeared to be a city, surrounded by a desert. At the center of the city there seemed to be a large castle of sorts, the main architecture of which seemed to be made of comical looking skulls, two to each side of one larger one, which had red spikes sticking out of the nose and eyes. There were red tipped spires to either side, and three black spheres floating in a triangular formation far above the building. The bottom portion of the world was very different, consisting of a massive jungle, and in the center of this jungle was a giant structure that looked like a giant spider. On opposing sides of the world were a laughing sun and a smirking moon.

"Huh," said Sora speculatively, "The look of this place…kinda reminds me of Halloween Town."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Donald said, directing the ship toward the new world.

_In the middle of Death City_

Soul Eater Evans and his Meister, Maka Albarn, rode through the streets of Death City, looking for the UFO that was supposed to have landed around here. _"Aliens…huh, that sounds like a load of crap,"_ thought Soul as he navigated a sharp turn (ignoring the protests of the girl riding behind him) and kept his eyes peeled for anything strange, watching the skies mostly. So engrossed was the white haired, red eyed boy that he was startled when he heard the blond behind him cry, "Soul, stop!" Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of screeching tires as he skidded to a stop. It didn't take him long to see what his Meister had been yelling about; maybe thirty feet ahead of them, the street was covered with what looked like puddles of darkness. Then, as they watched, the puddles formed into strange looking monsters, with all black bodies, clawed hands, glowing yellow eyes and weir d looking antennas on their heads. They moved sporadically, as if looking for something.

"Soul….these things don't have souls…"

"What?"

"They don't have souls. What are these things?" Maka didn't sound scared at all, but Soul could tell that she was concerned. After all, they'd never fought against anything without a soul before. He glared at the monsters and said, "Maka, let's get rid of these things." There was a flash of silver before the boys arm transformed into a scythe blade, with black on the bottom portion and red on the top, separated by a jagged line.

"Right!" the girl said, her emerald eyes burning with determination as there was a second flash of silver, and the boy was gone, replaced by a full size scythe, which the girl caught easily. At that moment, the creatures attacked, all of them leaping at her at once. With one powerful horizontal swing, she sliced through them, turning all of them into black smoke before leaving no trace of their existence. _"That was it?"_ Maka thought, but her victory was short lived as more of the monsters seemed to come out of the ground, this time surrounding the girl.

"God, where are all these things coming from?" she cried in frustration as she continually struck down the beasts, but each one that fell only gave rise to three more. After what felt like hours of battle, Maka started grow fatigued, but the hordes of monsters were endless. Just as the beasts began to overrun her, she heard a strange voice cry out, "THUNDER!" And from the sky, Maka watched as bolts of lightning rained down on her foes, and suddenly she was standing alone. Or at least you thought she was.

"Hey! Are you all right?" she heard a boys voice call, and when she turned around she saw three figures running toward her. One was a small duck, but it was wearing a blue long sleeved jacket and a matching blue wizard's hat. He was running to the right of a normal looking boy, with spiked brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a navy blue shirt with red near the bottom. Over this, he wore a black, short sleeved jacket with a hood. On his shoulders, connected by yellow straps, was a pair of blackish silver pauldrons. His pants were also black, and they were held up by a black belt. The pants stopped just below his knees. More yellow straps held a pair of red pouches at his sides. His shoes were black at the bottoms and yellow at the tops, and he wore black fingerless gloves. Around his neck he wore a chain necklace, with a silver crown dangling from it. Lastly, to the left of the boy, was a tall, dog-looking fellow, wearing a yellow hat with a pair of goggles just above the rim. He wore an open black vest and a green sweater, as well as yellow pants and brown loafers. In all honesty, Maka thought they looked kind of strange, and she knew that she'd never seen any of them before.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm okay," she answered as the boy and his friends stopped in front of her.

"Oh good," Goofy said, "but what're you doing out here all alone, miss?" Maka grinned and laughed as Soul answered, transforming back into his human form; wearing a headband, slightly askew on his head. His eyes were ruby red and his teeth were shark-like, showing in his smirk. He was wearing a yellow and black sweater, the arms being yellow and the chest area being black. He also wore a pair of red skinny jeans and a pair of black and yellow converses.

"Who says she's alone?" Soul said, his voice calm, but dripping with malice, "You know, I could ask you guys the same thing."

"Soul I don't think there's really anything wrong with them Soul, and the one in the middle has such a strong soul," Maka said uncertainly, "But…the little duck…has a Witches Soul." Maka had dull blond hair and green eyes, and she wore a black jacket, with white cuffs. The jacket was buttoned closed, but opened up at her hips, with the tail of the garment reaching all the way down to her feet. Despite the chill night, she wore a plaid red and black skirt, and a pair of black boots. Under the jacket she wore a white shirt with a green tie with white stripes, and on her hands she wore a pair of white gloves.

"A Witch, huh? Guess I know where we're getting that one then, huh?" Soul said, his arm transforming as he attacked without warning, his target Donald.

"Donald watch out!" Sora cried, trying to summon the Keyblade, but he was terrified when nothing happened. Just as the white haired boy was about to make contact with the small duck, Goofy was in front of him, part of his arm having transformed into a round shield with King Mickey's symbol. There was a moment of silence as Goofy held the boy at bay, a battle of strength between the two. Finally, Soul let up and jumped back, returning to his partner.

"You're a Weapon? I've never seen you before. You new to the Academy?" Soul asked, his arm reverting to its normal form. Goofy stared at his arm, his look of wonder only intensifying when there was a flash of light and his arm was back to normal. "Gawrsh…that's never happened before."

"Yeah," Donald said, eager to get his two cents in, "and don't call me a Witch, you white haired hooligan! I'm Donald, Grand Wizard to King Mickey!" At the mention of a wizard, Maka said, "You mean like Eibon?" Soul ignored this and said, "Answer the question; you guys new students to the Death Weapon Meister Academy or what?" Thinking quickly, Sora scratched the back of his head and laughed, saying, "Heh, yeah that's right. We're new…uh…students here at the…Academy. You guys are lucky we got here when we did, or else the Heartless would have overwhelmed you…eheh…"

"Heartless, huh?" Soul said, looking back, and then he whispered to his partner, "Maka, these guys smell like bad news. Think we can trust 'em?" Maka whispered back, "Well, it's obvious that they're not students…but they did help us out. I don't think it would hurt to take them to see Lord Death." Soul groaned and said, "Not cool…" before he stepped forward and pointed up to the large building illuminated in by the strangely smirking and laughing moon.

"You guys meet us there. That's the Academy. We're gonna circle around town and make sure there are no more of those…Heartless you called them? Yeah, we're gonna go make sure there are no more stragglers. You guys check out, and we'll take you to Lord Death, the guy that rules over all of Death City. Got it?" Soul said, putting his hands in his pockets as he turned to his bike. As they drove off, rounding a corner, Donald said huffily, "Well what's that guy's problem?" Goofy just shrugged and replied, "Well I don't know, guys, but I think we should go to that Academy place and see that Lord Death guy."

"Heh, sounds like he'd do more harm than good," said Sora, trying to lighten the mood as he put his hands behind his head began to walk, his companions following behind him, "but in a place like Death City, I guess that kind of name isn't all that weird."

'**Kay, there ya go, one hot steaming prologue. Hope you liked it, this one's been in my head for a while. Also, I bet you can guess why Sora couldn't summon the Keyblade, can't ya? Lol anyway I'll be updating this one as I update the others. Hope you enjoy.**


	2. A Strange New World

After wandering the streets of Death City and fighting back any Heartless that got in their way (Sora wasn't able to fight since he still couldn't summon the Keyblade) they were finally ascending the steps leading to the Academy. On the way up, Sora kept holding his hand out, trying to summon the Keyblade. After a few minutes, he gave up and hung his head in defeat. This did not go unnoticed by Goofy or Donald.

"Awh, don't worry Sora! I'm sure you'll be able to summon the Keyblade again," Goofy said comfortingly, patting the boy on the back, and Donald took the baton, saying, "Yeah. I'm sure it's just this world, anyways. Haven't you noticed all the weird stuff around here?" Looking around, Sora replied, "Yeah…this place is kinda weird. But still, it doesn't make any sense. I've never had trouble with summoning the Keyblade before…"

When the trio finally got to the top of the steps, they found the white haired boy standing alone, his hands in his pockets and an almost hungry looking smile on his face. Sora felt slightly intimidated by his eyes, but he didn't let that show. Donald was the first person to speak up, holding his staff over his shoulder and glaring victoriously at the boy, "All right, wise-guy, we made it here, do we check out or not?" The white haired boy chuckled to himself and replied, "Well, it certainly seems that way. Anyway, we ran into more of those alien things…those Heartless…on the way here. Maka, the blond you met earlier, is already inside talking to Lord Death. I'm Soul by the way."

"Uh…nice to meet you, Soul. I'm Sora, and this is Goofy," Goofy gave a wave to the boy, "and this is Donald." Donald wasn't as friendly, and instead crossed his arms and looked away, tapping his foot with impatience, "And…uh…we're new students at the DWMA." Again, Soul chuckled, and Sora suddenly felt unwelcome.

"Yeah…just so you know I don't believe for a second that you guys are students," Soul said bluntly, "Personally I think you guys are the ones responsible for all these Heartless in the first place. Anyway, follow me." Beside him, Sora could hear Donald grumbling something about disrespect and where he would put a good fireball, and he chuckled to himself.

_"Still though…it sounds like the Heartless haven't been around very long...and this guy thinks we're the cause?"_

_Death Room_

Sora watched the strange being pace back and forth before him, holding a giant, mitt like hand to his…chin? He couldn't really tell, since the comical looking skull mask hid his face from view. All-in-all, Sora assumed that what this guy had said was true: he was a Grimm Reaper, ruler of Death City. But he couldn't really believe that he was as strong as he said he was, with the way his voice sounded and the way he didn't seem to take anything seriously. Finally, after a few minutes, Lord Death said joyously, "Well, thank you very much for bringing these three in to see me. I take it your mission was a success?"

"Well, not exactly, sir," Maka said, scratching her head, "We didn't see this UFO the mission said to look for."

"But we did," Soul interjected, "see a lot of weird looking black monster things with glowing yellow eyes and antennas in town. We think they might be aliens and—" he was cut off as a heavy book came crashing down on his head, sending him straight to the floor with a dent in his head. The three looked on with horrified looks as the young girl cleared her throat and said, "We DO NOT think that they are aliens, but we do think that they are the cause for the recent rise in missing people in town. We think they may be pre-Kishins…wait…Sora what did you say they were?" Sora didn't have a chance to reply as Soul was standing again.

"Jesus, tiny-tits what's your problem, you saw these things! They have to be ali—" Another slam on the head (this time with the girl saying, "MAKAAAAA CHOP!") stopped him, but this time Soul didn't go down. After much grumbling and cursing under his breath, Soul finally said, "He called them Heartless, Lord Death, and I have reason to believe that they're the reason these things are here in the first place." Expecting Lord Death to begin interrogating the three immediately, but he was sadly disappointed when Lord Death said, still in a very joyous and bouncy tone, "These three? Naaaaah these three aren't the cause of the Heartless at all. Why, I admitted these three into the Academy just this morning! Sora is a talented Meister that I flew in yesterday, you see, and he told me he just couldn't come without his good friend, the Demon Shield named Goofy, and the Duckling Wizard himself, Donald!"

"Meister?"

"Demon?"

"Duckling?" Soul, Goofy, and Donald said in unison, Soul in disbelief, Goofy in fear (he'd never been called a demon before) and Donald in outrage. Donald stepped toward the death god and said, "What's the big idea?" but was stopped by a giant hand in his face as Lord Death continued, addressing Soul, "If you want I can get their files and show you." With a clap of his hands, a file cabinet rose out of the floor at his feet, and he quickly produced three manila folders, labeled, "Sora-Meister," "Goofy- Weapon" and "Donald-Wizard." At the sight of the files now in Lord Death's hand, Soul shook his head and said, "Looking at other people's private files isn't really that cool. C'mon Maka let's go get something to eat. Maka gave a little wave as she walked away with her partner, down the seemingly endless hallway of guillotines. Once they were gone, Sora turned back to the Reaper and said, "Hey…ah…thanks for—" but he was cut off when Lord Death said, "I knew you would be coming at some point, Keybearer. The Heartless have been becoming more and more of an issue, lately, and it's only a matter of time before they find the Keyhole. Not that I'd let them anywhere near it of course, but that doesn't mean it's getting any easier." Even though his voice still sounded light and joyful, Sora could tell that he was completely and totally serious.

"Hey how did you know that Sora was the Keybearer?" asked Goofy, to which Lord Death quickly answered, "Please, I knew you guys were here the moment your ship touched down in the city. That's why I sent those two looking for a "UFO;" so that they could find you before the Heartless did."

"We can handle a few Heartless, no problem!" Donald said, as if he had just been challenged. Lord Death chuckled at this remark and said, "I'm sure you can. You've been to many worlds, as I've heard, but the rules of this world are a little….different, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"Yeah, I've never had my arm do this before…" Goofy said as he transformed his arm, something he was getting used to slowly. Lord Death laughed and said, "Oh good, you've already got the hang of it. You of course, won't have a partner." Then he looked over to Donald and said, "I'm sure you've noticed that your magic is stronger in this world, right?" Donald looked at himself for a moment, and then nodded in agreement. Then Lord Death turned his attention to Sora, "And of course, the Keybearer."

"Some Keybearer I am," Sora started, feeling sullen all of a sudden, "I can't even summon the Keyblade. I don't know what's wrong with me…"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that Sora. This is a world where people turn into weapons, you know. It's not your fault. As a matter of fact, I think that's Spirit with your Keyblade now." Sora turned, saying, "Really?" but was soon disappointed when all he saw was a man with shoulder length, wavy red hair and green eyes. He had an almost bored expression on his face, and he wore a grey-black suit that consisted of, of course, the black jacket, a dark gray dress shirt complemented with a black tie that resembled an upside down cross. He wore the jacket open, and along with this he wore a pair of black slacks and black dress shoes that made a sullen clack on the floor as he walked.

"Yeah, I've got her. Wasn't all that hard, she was only surrounded by…like…thirty of those little alien looking things, until I rushed in and saved the day!" Spirit said, eyeing the three standing before him, especially Sora, "What is this him? Doesn't look like much to me." Sora was about to make a comeback when a girl stepped out from behind Spirit, and his words died before they reached his lips when she spoke.

"Hello, Sora," the girl said quietly. She was his age, with long silver hair and golden colored eyes. She was about the same height as he was, and she wore a shining silver jacket, with gold around the edges and on the cuffs. Beneath that she wore a plain white tee-shirt that with a gold heart outline on the front. She wore a gold and silver plaid skirt and a pair of white tennis shoes, as well as white thigh high socks with silver ruffles on the left and gold ruffles on the right. Lastly, she wore a silver earring that looked like King Mickey's symbol in her left ear. Overall, she was fairly gorgeous.

"Uh…how did you know my name?" Sora asked, scratching his head.

"I know all of your names; Donald, Goofy, even Riku and King Mickey. I helped you close the Keyholes to many worlds, and even helped you close Kingdom Hearts. I'm the Keyblade," then she stepped forward and held out her hand, "I don't really have a name, but I suppose you can call me Light. That seems appropriate." Awkwardly, Sora stepped down and took her hand, noting faintly that her fingernails were painted silver on one hand and gold on the other. Then, in a flash of gold light, she was gone, and in Sora's hand was the Keyblade.

"Good! I'm glad we could get all that sorted out. Now, I take it you three will be staying to look for your friends, right?" Lord Death spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, we're here to find our friends, Riku and the King," Sora answered as Light reverted to her human form and stood next to him, her face blank, "And, as you said, close up the Keyhole hidden somewhere in this world."

"That's good. Well, the best way to look would for you…" Lord Death opened each of their files, producing cards that read, "Shibusen Academy" at the tops, and featured pictures of each of them, as well as basic information, "to pose as Shibusen Students. You'll be known as one star Meisters and Weapons…well except for you Donald, what does yours say?" Donald took his and looked over it for a moment, mumbling out information as he read. He stopped at one point, staring angrily down at the card.

"Donald?"

"Uh….Donald…?"

"Duck….DUCKLING WIZARD! WAAAAAAAACCKK!" he exploded, losing his temper and stepping toward Lord Death, only being held back by his friends. With some effort, Sora said, "Yeah…yeah that sounds okay, Lord Death..eheh…where will we be staying, though?" Lord Death seemed to have an answer for everything, however, as he quickly produced a card with his skull mask on the front, as well as a series of numbers just below that.

"Well, the school will be supplying you with an apartment; I'm sure Soul and Maka will be happy to show you to it, and this card should be able to take care of any expenses you may need." Sora took the card and put it in his pocket, then turned to leave, the others, including the newest (yet somehow oldest) addition to their party, Light. Before they were out of sight, Sora asked one last question, "Earlier, Maka said something about me having a strong….soul? But I've always thought it was my heart, when gathered with the strength of my friends, that was strong. Have I been wrong?" Lord Death only laughed at this, then looked Sora seriously in the eye (he assumed that was what the Reaper was doing) and said, "Oh, no you're not wrong. You see, these souls and hearts you speak of…well…_they're the same thing."_

_Medusa's Lair_

"Vector Arrow!" the Witch cried from the shadows, sending bolts of black arrows zigzagging through space, destroying the monsters that had lately been invading her home. She took a few steps forward, revealing a blond woman with snake-like eyes, yellow in color. Her hair was spiked, with two prominent spikes extending down framing her face, and twisting to entwine around each other before resting on her chest. She wore a body-length, black hoodie with no sleeves, showing large dotted tattoos that circled down her arms and ended in snake heads. The hood was up, and had eye-like markings on either side of her head. The back of the hoodie had an arrow shaped tail, and she wore no shoes. She was scowling at the spot her arrows still inhabited, when she heard an older man's voice nearby. A voice she had never heard before.

"I like my girls…feisty," the man said, stepping out of a portal that seemed to be made of swirling darkness, "I must say, girlie, that's one helluva move you got there. I bet you're just full of surprises. He had yellow eyes, with a jagged scar on his left cheek, and a black eye-patch over his right eye. He wore a black hooded cloak adorned with chains, and a zipper all the way to the bottom. It was open, showing he was wearing more black underneath, including a pair of tall black boots. His hair was long and held back in a pony tail, with gray stripes down the center of his head, kind of like a skunk. Next to him were two children, identical twins by the look of them. They were dressed the same as the man towering over them, with their hoods up so that their faces were hidden from view. Around their necks they wore matching necklaces that seemed to be made of purple arrows.

The Witch looked over at the man, pure evil shining in her eyes, and she said, "VECTOR ARROW!" sending more volleys of her arrows flying at the man, stopping them just before they came into contact with him. He smirked and said, "Extra feisty." Then, he was gone, along with the twins, appearing standing on what appeared to be thin air, while also being upside down. The twins were gone and replaced with two arrow guns, which were now pointed at the Witch, ready to fire at a moment's notice. She noticed that the arrows were identical to the necklaces the children had been wearing moments before.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked, her voice cool as she smirked back at the man. The man stayed battle ready as he said, "Name's Xigbar, gorgeous. Yours?"

"Hmmph. Medusa. Tell me what you want here before I tear you apart, Xigbar."

"Oh I'm just here to tell ya, those things you've been killing off, they're called Heartless. I've got plenty to tell you, actually, if you stop those arrows coming up behind me." Then, Xigbar was gone again, appearing behind her, "Especially if you're looking to wake up that guy under Death City…" At this she couldn't help but look surprised, but regained her composure quickly, and she said, "Alright, you've got my attention."

**BAM! Another chapter done! I'm trying my hand at describing characters better, tell me if I'm doing okay. **


	3. Black Blooded Heartless

**Wow, this story has taken off a lot faster than I thought it would. Who would've thought? Heh, anyway before I begin, I want to say I own neither Kingdom Hearts nor Soul Eater. Also, special props go to: Eleanor's Darkness, , Torataro, all of whom added this story to their favorites, and warrior of six blades, High Prince Gasket, webidolchiu94, and the anonymous reviewer "RAwr," all of whom, you guessed it, reviewed. This stuff keeps me writing folks, though now that I'm back in school things might slow down. Anyway, thanks for reading, and now…..on with the show…writing…whatever.**

Sora stepped up to the mission board with Donald and Goofy close behind, and Light walking at his side. Maka, Soul, and their friends Black Star and Tsubaki, were pondering over the numerous papers adorning the large bulletin board.

"A lot of missions in Death City…" said Tsubaki timidly, her eyes slowly scanning the board. She was tall, taller than the people around her. The only person that seemed to match her height was Goofy, in fact. Her black hair was tied up in a pony tail, but the pony tail was still long enough to reach all the way down her back. She wore a pale yellow outfit with a long skirt end with a slit down the side. The shirt part of the outfit had a yellow star on the right part of the chest. Over the shirt and around her neck she wore a dark brown scarf, which matched the dark brown stocking she wore on her right leg, which was revealed by the slit in the skirt. She also wore a grey riveted sash that wrapped around her waist twice, the second time hanging down at an angle, and a pair of white boots. Her blue eyes were looking up at the board with worry as she traced a finger over the letters of one of the pieces of paper. That is, she was before Black Star snatched it unceremoniously and said, "Good, that just means more souls for me! They won't be able to handle my greatness anyway! Nyaahahahaaha!"

Black Star had spiky, bright blue hair that slightly resembled a star. He was well toned, because of his constant training, and he had green eyes. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with the collar popped, making it look kind of like a funnel, and on the collar are two riveted strips of grey material that extend from the collar to the breast of the shirt. Over the collar was a strip of cloth, also riveted, that wrapped around his neck like a scarf, and his belt was seemingly the same. His pants were white until they reached the knee, and then they turned black. The pants stopped just above his black and silver boots, each one adorned with a star on the toe. On his hands he wore grey fingerless gloves with heavy wrist weights on each, as well as a strip of cloth across each hand, each of which was adorned with yet another star. Lastly, he had a tattoo in the shape of a star on his right shoulder, which was a shade or so lighter than his actual skin color.

"Hey guys," Sora started somewhat timidly, trying to fit in, "What are you doing?" Next to him Light stepped forward and said, with almost no emotion, "The mission board," then, she slowly and methodically reached out and plucked one from the board, saying, "This one will be sufficient practice. You'll have to get used to a whole new method of fighting." Then, she began to walk away, probably to notify Lord Death that they would be taking the mission or something. It was Soul that addressed Sora first, who was staring after her.

"Uh, Sora?"

"Huh?"

"Staring after girls isn't all that cool, man."

"Oh, sorry…eheh…" replied Sora, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, "I was just thinking." Donald and Goofy shared a knowing glance, and then the pair began to laugh. Sora frowned and looked back and forth between the two, then asked, "What? Is there something on my face?"

"You could say that," replied Maka, joining in the laughter with her new friends. After a few seconds she regained her composure and said, "It's weird though. She seems like such a nice girl…but when she talks she seems…like a doll almost. And when I try to peek at her soul….all I see is an intense light. Is she okay?" Sora hadn't prepared a response to this question. In actuality, this was a question that had been on his mind as well.

"Ah…she's just shy is all…" was his response to the first part of her question, then said, "And…the light…ah…"

"The light is her soul…wave…uh…" Goofy helped, trying to remember the last word. Donald finished for him by saying, "Wavelength!"

"Uh, yeah, the light is her Soul Wavelength!"

"Huh," said Soul, looking between the two, "that sounds...very unlikely. You sure you're telling the truth?" There was silence while the trio looked at each other nervously, trying to come up with something to say, when Maka finally huffed and said, "Oh, Soul stop it!" The albino looked over at his partner with a look that bordered fear (fear of a Maka Chop, most likely) and said, "C'mon Maka, doesn't it just seem a little suspicious to you?"

"No, and it wouldn't matter anyway because Lord Death trusts them, and that's enough for me!" She glared at him for a moment, and finally he backed down, and she plucked one of the papers from the board and walked away victoriously. Soul glanced at Sora and said, "Women, huh?" before he followed, leaving Sora and the others with Black Star and Tsubaki.

"So, we've never been actually introduced, my name is…" Sora began, extending a hand to the blue haired ninja, but he was interrupted as the boy burst out in laughter and cried, "NYAAHAAHAA! Of course you want to know MY name!"

"Uh…"

"That's right! I'm sure even you've heard about me, alien! I AM THE ONE AND ONLY BLACK STAR!" Sora looked at his friends, mouthing, "Alien?" to which they merely shrugged. Meanwhile, Black Star continued his rant, while his partner looked at them apologetically and said, "Sorry about that. He's like this around others. Weird, at home he's so much calmer. Oh, and about the alien thing…"

"It's really no problem, Soul thinks the same thing…anyway, we've never really been introduced; I'm Sora, a Meister, and this is Goofy, a Weapon. And this is Donald."

"A Duck Wizard," Donald said, extending his wing, which Tsubaki shook and smiled, saying, "Yes, I know who you guys are. Maka told us about how you summoned lightning, and how Goofy's shield was strong enough to withstand a direct attack from Soul. You guys are pretty strong, it seems. I'm Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, and that…where'd he go?" Looking behind her, Tsubaki noticed that Black Star had indeed vanished, but his gloating could be heard somewhere nearby. She gave a curt little nod and said, "Anyway, pleased to meet you…I need to go find him. Bye." Then, she was gone, leaving the three alone. It wasn't long before Light returned, and she turned her golden eyes to him, saying, "Time to go do our mission, Sora, Donald, Goofy." Her voice was just as emotionless as it was moments before, and Sora felt a pang in his heart, something he hadn't been expecting. _"She's so cold…like she doesn't even have a heart at all…"_

Less than half an hour later, Sora found himself surrounded by Soldier Heartless alongside Donald and Goofy. Light had yet to transform. Apparently, this group of Heartless was responsible for taking quite a few "souls," as the hearts were called in this world. Sora looked over to light and said, "Transform so we can take these guys out!" She seemed to ignore him, and merely stepped forward. She raised a hand to the sky and a ball of red light appeared in her palm, followed by another, and then another, until in her hand was a larger ball of swirling ball of red beams, and at their center was the initial ball of light. Sora, Donald and Goofy looked on in awe as she turned to them and, still with hardly any emotion, said, "I'm sure you recognize this attack. This is my power, as the Keyblade." Then, she looked back at the Heartless swarming closer and closer to them and said, "Ragnarok." The beams exploded around them, flying every which way, and each finding their mark, destroying the Heartless that they came into contact with. When all was said and done, the swarm was gone, leaving only a large group of glowing red spheres.

"Light…that…was amazing!" Sora said as she stepped back to her comrades, her face blank and expressionless. She looked around at the souls around them, and said, "These hearts…or souls…will disappear soon. That was only a portion of my power. My true strength lies with the Bearer that wields me…you Sora." Then, there was a flash of gold light, and she was gone, replaced instead by the Keyblade, embedded in the street. Sora grabbed the hilt and felt the familiar surge of power jolt through his arm.

"The battle is far from over, Sora!" Light said, her face appearing in the rounded surface of the Keyblade before she was gone, and when Sora looked up, he saw more Soldiers appearing in the street, as well as lesser Shadow Heartless and Large Body's. The main thing that caught Sora's attention was the large, devil looking Heartless behind them all, with small black wings, glowing yellow eyes, and a large, double edged sword in its hand. From the looks of things, it was the one calling the shots…if Heartless could call the shots at all.

"Okay guys that one looks like the leaders…think you guys can take care of the little guys for a while?" Sora asked his friends, who both nodded, then Donald stepped forward and said, "Watch this, my magic is so much stronger here!" Then, he began to spin his staff around, and Sora just had to ask, "Uh, Donald…what are you doing?"

"Just watch," the duck said smugly, then turned to the Heartless that had gotten so much closer, and said, "FIRE!" Flames gathered around the top of the staff, and then he did a spin of his own and swung the staff much like a golf club. Rather than the typical ball of fire that he normally casted, fire erupted in a line, maybe five feet wide, underneath the Heartless' feet, burning them down and carving a path for Sora, who watched with fascination. He didn't have long to stare at his companions might for long, however, because Goofy had soon pulled him into action and was bashing foes left and right while he pulled Sora along, their target obvious. Soon, Sora began to charge on his own, felling foe after foe with the Keyblade. He knew what Goofy was planning, and just a lightning fell down in front of them (it looked more like a wall of flickering lights) and disappeared, Goofy skidded to a stop and held his shield-arm above his head, giving Sora a platform which quickly made use of, jumping and landing on one foot on the shield, then forcing himself into a higher jump with the help of a powerful push from Goofy. The result was Sora being tossed high into the sky, high above the enemy Heartless. Sora began flipping in midair (ignoring the dizzy feeling he was getting) while holding the Keyblade out. As he fell, the demon-like Heartless came up to greet him, and their blades clashed, the Heartless strong enough to keep Sora airborne. Sora glared at his opponent before breaking free from the encounter, falling to the ground and landing in a crouch. The Heartless floated down in front of him, never making contact with the ground.

"Sora we're coming to help!" he heard a female voice say, and when he looked behind him, he saw Maka, alongside Donald and Goofy, fighting her way through the seemingly never ending mob of Heartless. He caught a glimpse of Soul smirking in the blade, and he heard him say, "Don't go dying before we get there!" before he was brought back down into the fray. Sora smirked and looked back at his opponent, who hadn't moved an inch, as if it were waiting for him to attack.

"Huh…I've never seen a Heartless wait for someone to attack before…this thing is different than a normal Heartless…I wonder why."

"Because of me," came a woman's voice from the shadows, dark and snake-like. When he looked he saw a blonde woman stepping out from an alleyway, her hands folded across her chest. Sora noticed that she was wearing an Organization XIII cloak, and that her hair was twisted where it came down on her chest. Also, he noticed that her eyes were yellow and snake-like, and what appeared to be a purplish-black bolt of lightning was protruding from her widely smiling lips. Sora held his blade at the ready and said, "And who are you? The newest member of the Organization or something?" It wasn't the woman who answered, but Maka, who was suddenly next to him and holding her weapon at the ready.

"Medusa! What are you doing in Death City?" she cried angrily, her thoughts going back to when she had first battled Crona, and the wound he had received that day. It was all this woman's fault.

"It's good to see you too, Maka…Soul," Medusa replied, her smile widening a bit before she said, "As for what I'm doing here, it's…just a little experiment. Oh, and Keybearer? No I'm not their newest member, but they did give me what I need, and they told me ALL about you."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sora and Soul at the same time, Sora more with anger and Soul with sheer curiosity…and maybe the slightest hint of mistrust.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about, Keybearer. I know why you've come to this world, but there's too much talking going on, and I've got a Kishin to revive, so goodbye. I doubt we'll be seeing each other again." Then, just as soon as she had appeared, she was gone, probably through a Dark Corridor. At about the same time the Heartless, which had not moved the entire time, attacked, bringing its blade down inches from the two Meisters, who both leapt back automatically and faced their opponent. Sora looked back to see more Heartless appearing behind them, but Donald and Goofy were busy taking care of that, so he was able to turn his attention to the Heartless, which was once again coming toward them.

"Let's go, Soul! Soul Resonance!"

"Yeah, we'll kill this thing in one shot!" Soul replied before both of them began yelling, and Sora could feel the power beginning to radiate off them, before the blade of the scythe exploded with energy and the blade enlarged and began to glow with an incandescent multi-colored light. With two long strides, Maka was standing before the creature, and with one strong swing brought it down, crying "WITCH HUNTER!" as the Heartless blocked the attack with its own dark weapon. Maka was surprised that they were evenly matched, and neither could gain any ground. Maka sent Sora a look that said, "Don't just stand there," before being pushed back a little.

"Should we try that?" asked Sora, to which Light replied, "It couldn't hurt, though I think you'll find you've used the technique before. Just resonate your soul with me."

"Right…" Sora said, unsure about how to proceed. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to feel out with his heart (or soul, he didn't know) for his partner, and it wasn't long before he found her. He had expected to feel the power of a heart, but instead he felt a kind of warmth, like sunshine, spreading through him, and if he had been watching he would see that the Keyblade was glowing with pure light, and it was spreading, enveloping his entire form. He heard Light say, "Get ready," and, as if by instinct, Sora opened his eyes and cried, "SOUL RESONANCE!" All at once, power surged through him, and he felt his feet come off the ground. There was a flash of light before Sora was on the move, his clothes now themed with a blue color, his feet, never touching the ground as he flew forward, holding the Keyblade before him as it blasted blue beams of energy at the Heartless, which had disengaged itself from Maka and was blocking blow after blow from her scythe, while the shots riddled it's body, doing very little damage. Each blast that hit the Heartless sent blood onto the street.

_"Wait…"_ thought Sora, circling around to get a few more shots in, _"I've never seen a Heartless bleed…what's going on?"_ As if, reading his thoughts, he heard Maka cry, "This thing has Black Blood! Be careful Sora, it can protect itself using the blood!" Maka's statement was made true when she got a true hit, the blade of her Witch Hunter technique barely sinking in.

"Sora, use the power of the light to dispel the darkness. Only you can defeat this enemy," Light said, her voice never wavering. She knew exactly what needed to be done, and so did he. While the Heartless was distracted, pulling Maka's weapon from its side and destroying the Witch Hunter (and forcing Soul into his human form with its power) Sora darted forward, hearing faintly the cries of his companions as they watched him fly forward, knowing that in their current predicament they wouldn't be able to stop this rash attack. The Heartless turned to face him, but Sora barely noticed, as he was gathering all his power into the Keyblade, which was beginning to glow again, and with one last burst of speed he slashed, just barely being missed as the blade came crashing down behind him. He felt little resistance as the Keyblade cut through his opponent, which disappeared in a cloud of darkness. The remaining Black Blood within the creature fell to the ground all at once, and the battle was over.

"Sora, that was amazing. Your Demon Key can cut through the Black Blood?" he heard Maka ask as Light returned to her human form and his clothes returned to their normal color. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up, saying, "The Keyblade can cut through any darkness, Black Blood or not!" Behind them, the remaining Heartless simply disappeared without a trace, which confirmed Sora's suspicions and left Donald and Goofy looking around in confusion. They were obviously tired, but they smiled and gave Sora matching thumbs ups before they began gathering the souls of their defeated enemies. There were at least thirty.

"So, uh…what are we supposed to do with their souls?" asked Goofy, poking at one tentatively.

"Well, they're all Kishin Eggs," Soul began as he stepped up to them, his signature smirk plastered on his somewhat battle weary face, "I'd say we eat 'em." Then, he grabbed one and held it above his head, opening his mouth wide, but was stopped by Light, who grabbed his arm and took it, saying, "No. These aren't Kishin Eggs, Soul. They're the captured souls of the departed."

"So they're like normal human souls? Then why are they red?"

"They've been corrupted by darkness. Only I, the Keyblade, can send them off," then, with a twirl of her hand, small points of light appeared at the tips of her fingers, and she began to slowly work her way around the area, touching each soul she came across. With each soul the light came into contact with, there was a flash of light before the soul floated away into the sky and disappeared. Sora, who was now standing with his friends, leaned over and whispered into Donald's ear, "Hearts behave so much differently on this world, I wonder what else is different." Once she was done, Light stepped up to her "partner" and said, "Time to go. It's been a long day," and they were off. As they walked, Soul calmly stated, "You have some explaining to do, Sora, specifically about this "Organization XIII" that Medusa was talking about." Sora knew that this was coming, and he knew that, if Organization XIII was involved, he didn't have a choice. After nodding to his companions, he began.

_The Death Room_

Lord Death watched the fading image of Sora quietly. Stein was standing nearby, and after a slow drag from his cigarette he said, "The Black Blood. It seems that she can infect the Heartless with it. And I didn't like the look of that cloak she was wearing, either." Lord Death looked back at the doctor and said, "Yes, it seems Organization XIII is interfering with our world as well. No doubt they've been opening up pathways for her to move around Death City undetected…we'll have to be careful. No doubt she's after the Kishin." Stein clicked the screw in his head before saying, "And what about the Keybearer? Isn't he interfering in our world?" Lord Death didn't answer for a few moments, pondering on what he was to say, before he stated slowly, "The Keybearer…fights for the light against the Heartless," then, he turned completely around and said joyously, "So we can let it slide this time. After all, he is a "student," isn't he?" Stein chuckled at this and said, "That's true, but what if he fails to find the Keyhole. Worse, what if he has to face the Kishin?"

"Well…if he does…I have faith that he will prevail."

**Terrible ending I know. Next chapter is going to be better I hope. Enjoy.**


	4. Light, Oblivion, and Roxas

**Here is the next chapter. In it, I will be trying to explain some things about Light, as well as the connection between Medusa and the Heartless. That is my goal. Let's see if I can accomplish this, shall we?**

Medusa stepped out of the Dark Corridor a little light headed; it was a strange way to travel, and she couldn't say that she liked it. She looked around the familiar stone structure that was her lair and sighed, muttering, "Not only can this 'Organization XIII' come and go from my home whenever they please, but their experiment with the Black Blood on these 'Heartless' was a complete and total failure…" She took a few steps forward and was displeased to see the man she had encountered before, Xigbar. He was smiling like an idiot, but there was a certain cunning behind his eyes; like he knew something that she didn't.

"Awh…I wouldn't say it was a total failure, sweet cheeks," he said, chuckling to himself as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms, the smile ever present. Next to him, the twins stood silent, their hoods still up. From what Medusa could see, the two small Weapons showed absolutely no emotion, as if they had no souls. Which was strange, seeing as how this man had explained to her that he was part of an organization of Nobody's, all of which had no hearts or, for her world at least, souls.

"I have another question, Xigbar."

"Shoot."

"Those children…they don't have souls, and so they don't show emotions. However, _you_ do show emotions. Care to inform me as to why this is?" Medusa asked, her tone sweet but dripping with venom. After all, this man was an intruder in her home. He chuckled again, something that was beginning to drive the Witch mad, and then said, "Well…for a powerful Nobody like myself, we kind of….remember what it's like to have hearts…not that any of that matters to me…or that it will matter anytime soon. As for the twins here…they're not really Nobody's. Time! Space!"

"Yes, Master Xigbar?" the two answered in unison, their voices blending into one sound. Xigbar chuckled and said, "They don't have emotions, because they aren't technically human." Medusa eyed the two for a moment then continued, "I…suppose I understand what you mean. But what do you mean; the Black Blood in Heartless wasn't a complete failure? Surely you noticed the ease of which that little boy destroyed my creation?" More chuckles from Xigbar, and Medusa narrowed her eyes dangerously, and a small purple snake looking thing escape from her lips as he continued, "Yeah, he's a special case, him and his Weapon."

Sora's "Apartment."

"Wait, what do you mean, you don't have a heart?" asked Sora, confused, "You're living and breathing right in front of me, and I know you're not a Nobody. What's the deal?" Light gazed at her partner, the boy who had used her to seal many worlds, and defeat countless opponents in his quest to, ultimately, find his friend Riku, and return him home, and said in her emotionless voice, "I am the embodiment of the Keyblade, a weapon of light. This world has a certain power to it, probably thanks to the power of Lord Death, that allows me, as well as other weapons that come to this world, to take on human forms." Sora nodded as he listened to her, holding his chin in his hand. Donald and Goofy were sitting at the table in the kitchen, playing what looked like a game of cards, but it was obvious that they were listening in on the conversation as Goofy said, "Wait, but if it's only in this world that you can be human, then how do you know so much about us?"

"Yeah, how does that work?" asked Donald, glaring at her suspiciously. She looked at him with a calm expression that showed no trace of emotion and she said, "Just because I have not been in this human form for long, does not mean that I have not been present in your journey. I have been where you have been, and seen what you have seen, as the Keyblade." Donald looked away, seemingly put in his place, and Goofy joined him, the two returning to their card game. Sora, from his position on the couch, looked at his partner thoughtfully, then asked, "Then…what's wrong with you?"

"I don't understand what you mean?" she replied.

"Well, you act so…cold…emotionless. Why is that?" She looked at him with that same emotionless gaze, then said, "Well, I have no heart…and I'm not a Nobody. I am, as I said, merely the embodiment of the Keyblade. Any other weapon that is not of this world would most likely be the same."

"But…"

"That's enough, Sora. It is time for you to sleep. We have much to do in the morning." With that, she stood, and walked to the kitchen, telling Donald and Goofy the same.

"Awh, shucks, it's alright, Light. We'll keep watch tonight," said Goofy, who was soon followed by Donald saying, "Yeah, if any Heartless try to break in here, I'll just give 'em one of these!" The small duck then gave an exaggerated karate chop, which Sora and Goofy chuckled at before Light said, "There is no reason, they cannot come here. And if they would, I would destroy them. Sleep." Argument seemed futile at this point, so Sora silently obeyed his partner while Donald took the couch (his size making it almost the perfect bed for the small Wizard) while Goofy and Sora took the two bedrooms. Light herself sat in the kitchen silently, her eyes never moving off the moon, which was shining in through the window just above the sink.

_The Death Room_

"The Heartless are growing in number, Lord Death. Soon, the whole of Death City will be overrun. It's like we don't have enough people to take them on. All the Death Scythes around the world are busy fighting them off at their respective stations as well, so none of them can come to assist us." Sid said, his tone serious and very grave. Sid was a very well built, muscular man, with black Japanese tattoos, the kanji on which read, "Death." His skin was a bluish tint, his eyes were white and were devoid of pupils, his skin was tight against his face, showing his cheekbones and his teeth, and a there was a hole visible in the center of his forehead. He had brown hair in braided corn rows. Sid wore a pair of blue jeans with a small chain hanging from one side, as well as a pair of sneakers. For a top he wore a white basketball jersey with the number 23 on the front and back in red, as well as his forename higher up on the back.

"That is a bit of a problem. The Keybearer will have to fight all the harder, and he'll need to find the keyhole soon," Lord Death replied, his tone speculative as he sipped on a cup of tea, "Would you like some tea, Sid?"

"No thank you, I'm not all that fond of tea. That's not the kind of man I was. Lord Death, are you sure that the Keybearer can handle this kind of onslaught? The Heartless fill the streets, and many of them carry the Black Blood." Lord Death looked up at the mention of the Black Blood and said, "So…Medusa is more heavily involved than I thought…and for the Black Blood to be working this well..." Then, Lord Death stood and said, "Have you evacuated the city?"

"Yes, Lord Death. Many came here looking for refuge, while we evacuated the others to safe houses throughout the desert. We currently have Meister and Weapon pairs guarding these, but it can't be said how long they can hold out. They have enough rations to last a few weeks, but we have to resolve this as quickly as possible."

"Of course. Death Scythe!"

"Yes, Lord Death?" asked Spirit, emerging from behind the mirror behind Lord Death. His expression was one of worry, but if one looked closely they could see determination burning in his eyes, as well as the very slight smirk on his lips. He knew what his master was about to say.

"I need you to join Professor Stein in the fray. I'm afraid you will be going on an extensive mission. I'm not sure how long you will be out there, but don't worry; we'll all be doing our part, myself included." At this, Spirit frowned, as he thought about the prospect of working with his former Meister. But he didn't refuse; he knew that he would be fighting to protect the people of Death City…to protect his daughter Maka. He nodded stiffly and walked out of the room, while Sid excused himself and joined him. As they walked down the guillotine lined hallway, Sid said, "It's fixing to be a long night," to which Spirit replied, "Yup."

_Back at Sora's Apartment_

Light felt, much to her amazement, bored. It was true that, being what she was, she didn't need to sleep, but staring out the window for hours at a time was just…dull. _"What's more surprising is that I can feel bored at all,"_ she thought emotionlessly, _"I wonder what could be causing such a thing to happen…maybe it is this world."_ Silently, she stood and walked to the living room, her feet, which had been stripped of her tennis shoes long ago, making no sound. She looked down at Donald on the couch, who had his legs crossed and his hands behind his head, his hat resting over his eyes. From the contented snores she was hearing, she assumed that the small duck was very comfortable. She didn't linger long, however, and continued on her little journey through the apartment, passing by the closed door that led to Goofy's room first. She could hear loud snoring from the other side of the door, and knew that all was well in there as well. Lastly, she stepped up to Sora's room and, noticing the door was slightly ajar, she silently stepped in.

The room was small, with only a double sized bed, a nightstand with a lamp, a on the other side of the bed, and a small closet. There was a window just above the nightstand, allowing the moon to shine through, illuminating the sleeping face of Sora. His mouth was hanging slightly, but he didn't snore. He had removed his shoes, as well as his jacket. He still wore the small necklace with the crown, and it lay awkwardly on his chest, which was slowly heaving up and down with his breathing. He was sprawled out on the bed, with his midsection covered by the mostly wadded up blanket. Light walked to the chair and looked on her partner with a kind of fondness, her eyes soft and warm, something that she was still unsure could happen. It was as she was sitting that she heard the voice of a girl in her head, her voice carrying a darker quality.

"Light."

There was a moment of darkness before Light felt herself falling, but she didn't cry out in surprise. She knew what was happening. After a moment, a circle appeared below her, showing a picture of Sora, relaxed as if he were floating, his eyes closed and his mouth set in a line, with the Keyblade in hand. Around him were smaller circles of his friends; Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and even King Mickey and the girl Namine'. All of this Light had seen before, when she had first come to this world.

She landed lightly on the edge of the circle, facing the dark unknown before her. On the other side and facing the opposite direction was another. The difference between the two was that this new girl wore her hair down, so that it cascaded down her back. It was a shiny black color that matched her eyes. This new girl wore a black denim jacket, from which hung several chains, also black. Her tee-shirt was the opposite of Lights, being black instead of white and having a silver heart on the front. Instead of a skirt, this girl wore a pair of faded black jeans and a pair of black converse. Her hands were buried in the pockets of her jacket.

"Oblivion."

"It seems that you are growing attached to him, Light. I suppose you know how this is possible?"

"No," answered Light, not looking back. The other girl, Oblivion, chuckled as if she were amused and said, "Simply amazing that you can't see what is happening. This world is one where weapons and their users both live. To be able to fight with one another, they must synchronize their hearts…or "souls" I guess. Since this is how it works, it seems that the emotions coming from Sora's heart are seeping into you, giving you emotions of your own. Quite remarkable, really." Light turned then and said, "That seems to be the case, but do you mean to say that you are unaffected, Oblivion? After all, you are an extension of myself."

"True, I do feel it's effects, but as you are of the light, I am of the dark. Granted, I am still a Keyblade, but I resonate more with the darker aspects of his heart, and therefore I receive more of the negative emotions. But I didn't call you here for an explanation; I called you here to give you a warning."

"A warning?" asked Light, suddenly on the offensive. Sure, Oblivion was technically a part of her, but that didn't mean they saw eye-to-eye.

"Yes, a warning. We both know that this human form won't last. Once we leave this world, we shall become that which we are meant to be. So I give you this warning: Do not become attached to him." Light was about to speak, though what she was going to say was beyond her, when another voice, a boys, interrupted them.

"Now who are you to say what the lady feels?" asked the voice, and when they looked over they saw someone walking toward them in the darkness, his feet seeming to touch nothing but thin air. When he came into the light of the circle, they could see that he was a young boy, the same age as Soar. He had dark blonde, spiky hair, and blue eyes. He wore a white jacket with checker patterns at the chest and around the back, as well as at the shoulders. The collar of this jacket was red. Underneath the jacket he wore a black collared shirt with a zipper down the front. The zipper itself was shaped like an X. The boy also wore a pair of pants that were black from the waist to the knee, where they then became white, and he wore a pair of black tennis shoes with red laces. On his left wrist he wore a black and white checker pattern wristband, as well as a black ring on his index finger and a white ring on his middle finger. The boy was frowning at Oblivion, his arms crossed over his chest.

"This doesn't concern you, Roxas. Be gone." Oblivion retorted, showing the slightest bit of anger beneath her calm tone. Light looked at him, not speaking.

"So what if it doesn't concern me. I've felt the way Sora's heart works, so I'm pretty sure I've been in the same boat as you guys anyway." Roxas said back, calm, "All I'm saying is that, if there's no way to stop it, then why bother? Besides, just because you guys don't exist on any world but this one, doesn't mean that you aren't there. I mean, look at the Nobody's, look at _me._ I shouldn't exist, yet here I am. They shouldn't exist, yet there they are, right?"

"You make a good point Roxas," stated Oblivion, "but that doesn't take away from the fact that growing attached to him will only cause problems." Roxas was about to respond to that when she said, "It doesn't matter what he feels, or what _he_ makes _us_ feel, Light. The fact remains that you must remain as nothing more than a weapon, understand?" The whole time Light had been listening to the small argument, she had been thinking about what to do. Logically, Oblivion was right. But, she couldn't stop what her heart….well…Sora's heart, had been feeling. Sora saw her as a friend, and she did too. After a few seconds, Light said, "I understand, Oblivion. I will keep these emotions hidden." To emphasize her point, Light made her voice as emotionless as possible.

"Good. It shouldn't be all that hard, either way. The effect of his heart is little to nothing anyway." Oblivion answered, before fading away. Roxas took one look at Light before he too faded, leaving Light to stand alone. She stepped to the center of the circle and thought, _"Hopefully you are right, Oblivion,_" before the entire thing shattered like glass, and she fell once more.

**Hope you guys like this, and before you say it, no this is not the last we will see of Roxas. This story is coming along a lot better than I thought it would. Next chapter, we introduce Death the Kid into the mix. Can't wait for it? I'm sorry, but you gotta. Also, a quick announcement. I am currently taking requests for stories. If you guys want to see something written by me, drop me a line and, if I can, I'll give it a shot. If I can't, it's most likely because I haven't actually read/watched/played whatever you want me to write about, but don't think I won't write something about it. It may take longer, but I'll gather information on the subject and make something out of it, that way no one is left out. :D Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	5. First Mission

**Anyway, this story is coming along greatly, though maybe just a little faster than I had expected. This chapter will, as I said before, feature Death the Kid. Hope you guys like this, and as always please drop me a review afterward. Also, since I'm beginning to find that my meticulous detailing in this story is becoming somewhat tedious, so I'm going to try to tone that down just a tad with OOC's. However, I will be using this detailing method on any other OC's I happen to make up.**

Sora stabbed the Keyblade into the sand, his breathing heavy. The sun was beating down on him harshly, and when he looked up he muttered, "Man…is it mocking me or what?"

"It is kinda weird that the sun is laughing in this world…" muttered Goofy, wiping sweat off his brow as his arm returned to normal. Of the three, it seemed that Donald was the only one that wasn't affected by the desert heat…but that was largely due to the chunks of ice floating around him.

"Awh, you guys complain too much," he said, sending one of the ice chunks flying at yet another Shadow, turning it into nothing instantly before returning to the wizard.

"Well, we can't all have your Blizzard magic, Donald," said Sora, leaning against the Keyblade, "isn't that right, Light?" Light transformed then, causing Sora to lose his balance as his support was suddenly gone, and she said, in her emotionless tone, "Actually, you can use magic as well, Sora," From his place in the sand, he looked up at her and said, "Well, yeah but my magic is nowhere near as strong as his is!"

"You're just jealous. Haahaha!" joked Donald, the ice melting around him, "So, is that all the Heartless?"

"The mission is to," started Light, producing a sheaf of paper from her jacket pocket, "to investigate the desert area surrounding Death City and eliminate any hostiles in the area. Namely those that have been attacking passersby."

"And were these them?" asked Goofy.

"I doubt it. What we've been fighting today, Shadows, Soldiers, none of them are really all that strong," said Sora as Light began walking around, sending away the souls of the Heartless Donald and Goofy had defeated with her touch, "So no, I don't think that we've found them yet."

As if on cue, the sand around them erupted into activity, with fins of just a darker shade than the sand around them circling round and round. Light transformed and went flipping through the air, Sora catching her just as one of the Heartless leapt from the sand, clamping its jaws down on the Keyblade. The creature had scales of a dark brown color, just darker than the color of the sand around them. Along its body were stripes of lighter colored scales (giving it the look of a tiger hide) and the belly was the lightest of all, almost white, with a Heartless Emblem near the center. Overall, the thing looked like a shark, except for its glowing yellow eyes, and was almost as big as Sora was tall.

"Get off!" Sora cried, pressing with all his might and sending the Heartless flying away before it fell into the sand, where it sunk in as if it were landing in water. Sora looked over to see his friends also battling against these Sand Shark Heartless; Goofy was currently striking them with his shield arm as they leapt at him from the sand, while Donald hit them away in much the same way, his staff covered in ice to make it look much like a warhammer.

"Sora stay focused!" Light cried, keeping her "emotions" in check. Sora looked forward to see two fins in the sand, headed for him at high speed. He held the Keyblade and tensed, readying himself. As one of the Heartless leapt from the sand, its jaws opening and closing as it flew towards him. Sora sidestepped, and just before the thing dove back into the sand, he slashed, bringing the Keyblade up into its mouth and through it, destroying it and leaving its soul behind, which quickly flew to the sky and vanished, since it was done by the Keyblade. Sora didn't have much time to think, however, as he quickly rolled out of the way of the other Sand Shark, which had leapt right after the other had. When he was back on his feet he noticed two more join the one he was fighting, and they all charged him in a V formation.

"Here they come!" Light said, and as she said it, they leapt, all at the same time, and all directly at Sora. He defeated the first one, but he knew that, as soon as he had attacked, the other two would rip him to shreds. Of course, that's what he was expecting, but instead, he heard a torrent of gunshots and watched as the two remaining Sand Sharks were torn asunder before they dematerialized, leaving nothing but their hearts behind. Confused, Sora looked around for the source of the gunfire, and soon found it flying up above him.

The glare of the sun kept Sora from seeing much detail of the figure above him, save for a dark silhouette, which was either standing on something or had odd shaped feet. From what he could tell, the figure was holding two guns, and upside down at that. Also, he could see glowing amber eyes. With all of this information, Sora thought to himself, _"Is that a Heartless?"_

"You. You're Sora, the Demon Key Meister, right?" the figure spoke, its voice a rich baritone and all seriousness. Before Sora could answer, the figure said, "No, Demon Key Meister isn't the right term, is it. You…are the Keybearer, right?" With that, the figure jumped (turns out it _was_ standing on something, which the figure grabbed and put under his arm) down, landing in a crouch before Sora and the others, leaving Sora to think, _"What kind of Heartless talks?"_

The figure stood, revealing that it was actually a boy, impeccably dressed in a black suit, something about which screamed for Sora's attention, though he couldn't figure out what it was. The boy had a very serious expression on his face, his eyes were an amber color, and he had three white lines in the left side of his hair. He wasn't, however, a Heartless. In his hands were two guns, both held down at his sides now. The boy gave Sora a very speculative look before scowling and saying, "To think that someone like you would be the chosen wielder to a weapon of such phenomenal power. Despicable." Scowling, Sora replied, "And what's so wrong about me?"

With a heavy sigh of annoyance, the boy pointed at Sora and exclaimed in a disgusted tone, "How can you stand to live with yourself? Sure, your clothes may be symmetrical but look at your hair! It's spiked and pointing in every direction imaginable! There's no symmetry! It's….it's…an abomination!" The boy's voice had gone from serious to near furious, and his scowl had deepened. Confused, Sora lowered the Keyblade and pointed to the three lines on the boys head, and said, "But…you're hair isn't...uh…symmetrical either." At this, the boy looked up toward the three lines (Sora doubted he could actually see them) before he let out a wail and sank to his knees, beating his fists repeatedly into the ground, saying, "He's right…I'm nothing but asymmetrical garbage…useless…useless…" The trio stared, dumbfounded, at the scene before them.

Dual flashes of light signaled that his weapon partners, both of which were girls wearing what appeared to be cowgirl outfits, had transformed. One was quite a bit taller than the other, and with longer caramel colored hair. She was glaring at the boy in the sand with a look that bordered on contempt in her dark blue eyes, while saying, "C'mon, Kid, this isn't the time to lose yourself. We came here with a goal, remember?" The other girl, who had more childlike features (yet somehow much larger breasts) merely plopped down and laughed like a little maniac. Sora, Donald and Goofy each exchanged looks of confusion before Goofy asked, "Kid?"

"Yes," said the boy standing finally and dusting himself off, despite the fact that he still looked deeply troubled about the fact that his hair wasn't symmetrical, "I suppose I haven't introduced myself; I am Death the Kid. My father is, of course, Lord Death, and these are my Weapon Partners, Elizabeth and Patricia Thompson."

"Hi."

"Hiya~!"

Sora looked at the trio standing before him and said, "Nice to meet you…I think. I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy." Kid looked at him with an almost bored expression and said, "Yes, I know about all three of you; the Keybearer, the Demon Shield, and the Duckling Wizard. My father has informed me about everything, including your reason for being here."

"Grrrr…..DUCKLING?" growled Donald, stepping forward a bit with his staff, which was still covered in ice, only to be held back by Goofy as he put his arm out before him. Goofy had a very serious look on his face.

"If you know all about us then you know that your father is letting us stay here until we do what we came here to do; you know our reasons for being in your world. But what I want to know is what are _your_ reasons for coming here to talk to us?" Goofy asked, his voice conveying the fact that he would put up with no nonsense, son of Lord Death or not.

"My reasons are simple," started Kid, looking to his partners, who nodded in understanding and transformed, flying to the air where Kid caught them above his head, his pinkies hooking around the triggers before he brought them down to point at Sora, "I came here to test the Keybearers abilities. If you are going to be in our world, then you must be able to defend yourself. As I'm sure you've no doubt noticed, the rules are different here." Defiantly, Donald and Goofy stepped up in front of Sora, Goofy holding his shield arm in front of him, and Donald holding his staff up over his shoulder.

"Sora isn't gonna fight you alone!" exclaimed Donald, his feathers obviously still tweaked by the "duckling" comment.

"Yeah, Sora is our friend and we'll fight by his side!" Goofy added, his face still serious and almost a little angry. Both were shocked when Sora said, "No guys, I'll do this one on my own."

"Sora?"

"Sora!"

"Trust me guys. If he was here to take me out, he would've done it already. And besides," Sora looked down a second before looking up with a smirk on his face, his eyes blazing with determination, "I want to show this guy what a Keybearer can do!" His friends looked at him for a moment, then both nodded and stepped back, Donald saying, "Show him who's boss!" With a smirk, Kid said, "Well then, 'show me what a Keybearer can do!'"

Sora smirked back and wasted no time in his attack, raising the Keyblade before him in both hands and crying, "Freeze!" The effect was immediate as Sora used the magic, shooting a ball of ice at the Reaper and taking him by surprise. But Sora didn't stop there, and he followed up his magic attack with a charge, rushing Kid, who had deftly dodged the ice ball. Sora brought the Keyblade down just moments too late, as Kid leapt back, doing a backflip as he did so, and landed ten feet away, holding his guns out before him in a very symmetrical manner as he began to fire away. Sora began blocking the shots with the Keyblade, unable to make any headway.

"Come on, Keybearer! Show me what you can do! I know you're stronger than this!" Kid cried angrily over the barking of his pistols. Sora began to feel a little angry as well, and he felt his sword arm swing faster and faster, and he was beginning to find small openings where he could take a step or two forward. But it wasn't enough…not by a long shot. _"At this rate I'll get tired out and lose…"_ Sora thought, his arm beginning to burn.

"Sora," Light said, catching his attention, "Let's use Valor Resonance."

"Valor Resonance? Is that like…another kind of Soul Resonance or something?"

"Basically, but we don't have time to talk about it, just do it!" With that, Sora concentrated as best as he could while deflecting Kids attacks, trying to synch up his wavelength with Light. After a moment, his power surged, deflecting some of the bullets for him, and the color of his clothing changed to a red theme. Also, in his other hand appeared another Keyblade, all black. It had a slightly longer reach, and the hilt guard was comprised of two bat-like wings. The blade itself is a chain-like design, and looked somewhat similar to the Kingdom Key. The keychain attached to it was identical to Sora's crown necklace, only it was black rather than silver.

Sora charged, this time covering a great amount of ground while blocking his opponents attacks with ease, and as he approached he leapt high, spiraling through the air to deflect more bullets before bringing the Keyblades crashing down into the sand, just barely missing Kid as he leapt back again, a look of mild surprise on his face. Sora didn't relent, gathering more power as he sprinted at his foe, a battle cry escaping his lips as he swung his Keyblades like a madman, his strength building with every attack as a red tinted aura began to form around him.

_"Is this his soul wavelength?"_ Kid thought as he dodged more and more attacks, trying to make some distance, but nothing was working. Whenever he would dodge, Sora would lunge after him and keep on the offensive. Whenever Kid would launch a counterattack, the bullets would fly off to the side, if they didn't just disappear completely. Needless to say, Kid was beginning to have trouble with him. That was, until more Sand Sharks appeared, interrupting their fight. Hundreds of them circled the sands around them, and Kid, who had abruptly stopped firing, said, "I guess this explains why so many people have been going missing. They must have been attracted to out battle." Sora, however, didn't hear this.

"Sora!" cried Light as he fell to the ground, his beginning to run rampant and out of control, "Pull back the power now!" But it was too late. With a cry, Sora was briefly bathed in darkness, and the last thing he heard was Lights fading voice calling his name.


	6. The AntiForm

_- "Where…?"_ Sora thought, floating in the darkness. He couldn't see anything, and he could just barely hear his own breathing.

"Light?"

Nothing.

"Light!"

Still nothing. It was then that Sora knew that he was alone, and for a moment he thought that maybe his heart had been taken; this was very similar to when he became a Heartless, back in Hollow Bastion. Back then, it had been his friend, Kairi, who had brought him back, but this time she wasn't there. Could Donald or Goofy bring him back? He didn't know. He was about to panic for a moment, thinking that his adventure was over, and that he wouldn't find his friend Riku and bring him back to the Islands, when the first image appeared before his eyes, deeply veiled in twisting shadows, so much so that he was only barely able to make out what was happening.-

"What is going on?" Kid asked no one in particular as he watched the boy before him. He was kneeling on all fours, and his skin (as well as his clothing) had become all black, with tints of blue. Streaks of what appeared to be black mist were rising from his arms and his back, and his eyes were glowing yellow, like those of a Heartless. The Keyblade was nowhere to be seen, and Kid assumed that it been devoured by the darkness. Kid raised his weapons to attack, thinking that the so called "Keybearer" had become nothing more than another Heartless, another monster to destroy, but stopped when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Looking back, he saw Goofy standing behind him, shaking his head slowly. On his other side stood Donald, who had his arms crossed and his staff on his back.

"Just give it a second. It'll be over soon," said Donald gravely, his tone one of wisdom, and one that Kid chose to obey as he watched this dark Sora begin his assault. He stood and arched his back, his now clawed hands flexed at his sides as if he were howling, and then he was moving, a blur of black motion as he grabbed onto one of the leaping Heartless, clawing at it until it was gone. He was like an animal, feral and deadly, darting around and landing attacks with devastating effect, and Kid was actually sort of glad that he hadn't fired on him: he didn't want this…_thing_ attacking him along with the Heartless it was currently ravaging.

-Despite the violent display, Sora made no sound, watching as this other self brutally destroyed all opposition, until there were none left. He watched the scene before him change to show Kid, Donald and Goofy standing before him, and he fought the controlling darkness, knowing that, if he hadn't, then he probably would have went after them as well. After a moment, he won out, and felt his body lightening until it felt he was being lifted toward the image, and light began to pour in from all around him.-

Sora was once again veiled by darkness, before it dissipated and he was left standing there, looking exhausted. His clothes had returned to normal, and the Kingdom Key hung limply at his side. The other Keyblade was nowhere to be found. Slowly, Sora took one agonizing step forward before the Keyblade fell to his side and he sunk to his knees. Goofy and Donald started for him, but Light had already transformed, kneeling before him and catching him by the shoulders before he could fall into the sand. He tried to say something but it only came out as an exhausted groan. Light kept her on her façade as she said, "Save your strength," then, with the tiniest hint of frustration, "I told you to pull your power back…"

_The Apartment_

Sora lay motionless on the couch, his breathing shallow but regular. Light was by his side, her eyes closed in concentration. Goofy and Donald were next to her, both worried, and Kid was at the door, his partners standing nearby.

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?" Kid asked, the sight of the Keybearer using such dark power still fresh in his mind, despite the hour or so that had passed since then. However, if anything good could be said about the day's events, it was that the Heartless attacks just outside of Death City would be lessened. Light stood and turned to look at him, saying, "He's exhausted. The Valor Form took a lot of his strength away, but the Anti Form only exacerbated that. He probably won't awaken until tomorrow morning." Before her, Kid looked away, avoiding looking at her directly.

"What?" she asked emotionlessly. Kid bit his lip and closed his eyes, beginning to sweat, but it was no use, and finally he snapped, practically screaming, "How can you stand being dressed like that?" Somewhat startled (though not showing it on the outside) she looked herself over and said, "I see nothing wrong with the way I am dressed."

"Where do I begin!" Kid stated loudly, stepping up to her so that they were inches apart. She stood her ground.

"First of all, look at this earring! Why only one, and only on the left side? Where's the other one, don't these things come in pairs! And then these socks!" He knelt down to look at her socks more closely, beginning to lift her skirt to see the ruffles more closely, but was unable to continue his rant as Liz put her foot against the side of his head and kicked…hard. Kid went flying away, crashing into wall, where he lay just as motionless as Sora.

"Sorry about that. Light, was it?" asked Liz nicely, as if she hadn't just attacked her Meister, "Anyway, you were saying?"

"Ah, yes," Light said, picking up where she had left off, "Sora has used up most of his strength because of his use of the Anti-Form." Patti perked up here and asked in a curious child-like manner, "Ane-chan, what's Anti-Form? Is it when Sora went all crazy? WooooOOoOOO! Nyahahaaha!" Liz looked at Light for confirmation, but was instead answered by a small, impeccably dressed cricket that leapt up on her shoulder.

"I think I can answer that question," the cricket stated, receiving stares from Liz and Patti. Noticing this, he said, "Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket. Anyway, yes young lady that was the Anti-Form that you saw."

"And what is the cause for such power?" asked Kid, dusting himself off as he stood and returned to the conversation, "I thought the Keybearer was a warrior for the light."

"Well, he is. But once upon a time…a whole journey ago, actually, we were on this world called Hollow Bastion. The whole place was infested with Heartless, and ruled over by the witch Maleficent. She tempted Sora's friend Riku with the power of darkness. Then, not long after, Riku was possessed by the Heartless of a man named Ansem, and was given a Keyblade of darkness, made out of the Hearts of the Princesses of Light. Riku and Sora fought, with Sora being the victor, and to release the hearts of the princesses, Sora unlocked his own heart, which unfortunately also turned him into a Heartless."

"You mean he's been one of those creepy things?" asked Liz with a shocked look on her face. Patti and Kid had identical looks on their own faces. None of them had expected this at all.

"Yes, young lady that would be correct, but only for a short while. I don't really understand it myself, but thanks to his good friend, Kairi, his heart was brought back to us, and here he is today."

"Because of this transformation, the darkness in his heart was able to manifest, and thanks to the power we share to use these Forms, it has an outlet, especially when he uses his power like he did today." Light finished, looking back at his partner for a moment before turning back to them and saying, "He should be fine, as long as he gets some rest." Little did she know what was truly happening in within the young boys' heart.

-Sora stood in the center of the lightly glowing, circular platform, which looked as if it were made of stained glass. He felt that the entire situation was just so…bizarre, and the fact that the picture he was standing on was one of him was somewhat unnerving.

"Someone sure took a lot of time making this thing…well, I guess not. This is just a dream, isn't it?" Then, crossing his arms and looking around slowly, he said, "Still…I think I've had this dream before."

"Oh, you've never had this dream before, trust me," came a female voice form behind him, and he turned, startled, only to see the familiar form of Light standing at the edge of the platform. He gave a relieved sigh and held his heart, saying, "Oh, Light. It's just you." He took a few steps toward her, but stopped and gasped as her image faded when he approached, leaving behind a ball of lightly glowing light, spreading his shadow far behind him.

"The closer you come to the light, the longer your shadow becomes, isn't that right, Sora?" said a somewhat darker voice behind him, and when he turned he saw a girl dressed in mostly black, standing just above the head of the shadow, which was now beginning to lift up from the ground, taking form, it's eyes glowing yellow as it's hair grew long and wrapped around its head. The being had ink black skin, and a very muscular body. It towered over Sora and the girl, which now stood behind it, and in the center of its chest was a hole in the shape of a heart. Sora took a few steps back, nearly falling back over the edge of the platform.

"You would think you were used to seeing things like this," said the girl, stepping around the hulking figure, which seemed to ignore her presence altogether, "But, then again, I suppose I can understand; seeing your Heartless side must be a shocker." Then, the girl was gone, leaving only the dark Keyblade he had used before while fighting Death the Kid. Hastily, he picked it up and looked up at the Heartless before him, which was changing once more to look like his Anti-Form. He heard the girl speak once more before she became silent, "Tame the darkness in your heart, or be destroyed." The moment the words left her mouth, the Heartless before Sora charged, and the battle began.

**Sorry this one took so long, I've got other ideas a-brewing as well. Hope you all enjoyed this one.**


	7. Taming the Darkness

Sora battled with this dark version of himself with great difficulty, its random pattern of attacking throwing him off guard. The thing was like a wild animal, darting around him and clawing at him. It grabbed at the Keyblade and Sora took his chance, kicking at it and sending it sprawling away.

"You call this taming the darkness in your heart? Fight like you mean it!" Oblivion cried, startling Sora with her sudden burst of anger, but it got him moving. As the dark Sora got back on its feet and struck again, Sora met its attack with one of his own. What was at first a somewhat hesitant back and forth between the two became a whirlwind of flashing steel and black claws. Sora growled in defiance of his dark, ever silent foe, and quickly gained the upper hand, causing it to back away until it came dangerously close to the edge of the platform. Seeming to notice this, it began to lash out with incredible ferocity, a cornered beast.

"Strike, now!" the girl cried, and Sora obeyed, parrying one of his Heartless' blows to knock it off balance. He planted a foot just in front of his Heartless and brought his Keyblade up in a powerful uppercut slash, catching it from the hip and bringing it across its torso diagonally. The force of the strike lifted the being off the ground, and sent it falling back over the edge as Sora watched. As it faded away into the darkness, Sora held the Keyblade over his shoulder, a grim but victorious look on his face.

"How was that?" he asked the girl, but was answered instead by a male voice behind him.

"Pretty good, but you've still got a ways to go before you'll be ready."

Sora turned and looked upon the boy who now stood in the center of the platform, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Sora had to admit that he looked…familiar. Sora kept his stance and said, "Yeah? Ready for what?"

"You'll know soon enough."

"And who are you?"

"No one in particular, but it doesn't matter who I am. Time to wake up."

"Wake up? What are you…"Sora started but was unable to finish his sentence, as he felt himself, for the second time that day, become weightless before he was bathed in an intense light.

_Soras Room_

Sora woke with a start, sitting up violently and panting. _"That was all a dream?"_ he thought, looking around the dark room. He thought it must have been a dream, but it wasn't the only time he'd had one like that. Still…he kind of hoped it was a dream either way. After a moment of looking around, he noticed someone was sitting not far away, and he jumped.

"Light? Is that you?"

"Of course," came her emotionless reply, "Who else would it be?" Sora smirked and said, "Good point. So what happened?" And so, Light told him everything that had happened after he had collapsed, including how she and the others had explained to Kid and his partners who they were and what they were doing here. After a few moments, Light said, "You were out for quite a while…are you all right?" And so, Sora had his turn to explain the dream he had had, including how he had fought his Heartless self and the dark girl he had faced.

"Oblivion."

"What?"

"Her name. She is the manifestation of Oblivion, a Keyblade of darkness, and therefore she is called Oblivion."

"Then…why aren't you called Kingdom Key?" Sora asked, not knowing exactly _how_ stupid his question sounded. Light sighed and said, "That would just sound…ridiculous is why. Since I'm a Keyblade of light, I am Light." Sora nodded and said, "Okay…so if you know who the girl was, then who was that boy? He seemed to know me and…for some reason…I think I know him too." For this, Light seemed to have no answer, and Sora looked up to her and said, "Light? Do you know?"

"No," she lied, looking away from him so he wouldn't see it in her eyes, "I don't know who the boy is Sora…I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Light. It's not your fault you don't know," Sora said, yawning, "I think I'm going to go back to sleep…though I guess I shouldn't be tired with all the time I've spent asleep today, huh? And with that, Sora was laying back down, and within moments he could be heard snoring lightly. Light smiled and whispered, "He's a sweetheart…" before leaning in and kissing his forehead, all while Oblivion protested through their connection to Soras heart.

"I told you not to get attached."

_Death City_

Stein hacked his way through yet another group of Heartless, the scythe in his hand cutting through them like a hot knife through butter. As he clicked the butt of the scythe on the ground, a red haired man appeared on the surface of the blade and said, "Man, these things just keep coming. Will there be an end to them, do you think?" Stein merely lit a cigarette and said, "All things must come to an end eventually, senpai."

"Yeah, but don't forget that that applies to us as well."

"Of course," Stein said, tightening his grip on the scythe and swinging at the Heartless forming before him, his stitched lab coat flying out behind him.

_Medusa's Lair_

Medusa stared at the man standing before her, a scowl on her face. She was sitting before a crystal ball, her body suspended on an arrow shaped tail that she had adapted onto the Organization cloak she had been given. The man, Xigbar, was sitting on the opposite side of the crystal, sipping on a cup of tea, something she knew he was doing just to annoy her. She felt it the temptation to kill him growing with every passing second. Time and Space stood behind him to either side, saying nothing.

"So I take it that those Heartless you sent out to the desert today were…unsuccessful?" he asked with a smirk, putting the now empty cup down beside him. Medusa's scowl deepened and she said, "Obviously. You say that these things are attracted to the darkness that resides within souls."

"Hearts."

"Whatever. My point is that no matter how many Heartless I have at my disposal, none of them seem strong enough to fight, let alone help me free Asura."

"What about that wolf man and that cute little Witch?"  
"Pah! Eruka, cute? My don't you have some strange tastes. But they are doing as I planned, and Crona is ready as well…despite his being a failed experiment. But no matter about that. At the rate these Heartless are coming, my original plan won't be able to go forward anyway. What's so funny?"

Across from her, Xigbar had begun to chuckle, and when he confronted about it he said, "Oh, nothing you'd bother to care about. You just sounded like someone who used to be in the Organization." Then, he stood and said, "Listen, I've got some errands to run, sweet cheeks, but I'll be back. And don't worry about the Heartless: you're a scientist ain't ya? You'll figure it out." As he walked away, a Corridor opening before him, a Vector Arrow flew past his head, grazing his cheek. He smirked before disappearing along with the twins.

"Ingrate," Medusa said coldly, staring after where he had just been, and then sighing in defeat when she noticed that some of those smaller "Shadows" appeared. As she watched them darting to and fro toward her, she noticed the way their skin was inky black, and the way their eyes glowed an eerie yellow, and it reminded her of something. With a sly smile, she began to form her plan.

**Sorry for the long time update college has been a flurry of activity. I'll try to be quicker *cough* Wolf *cough***


	8. The Commemoration Festival Dance

**Okay, this here is the next installment, sorry as always for the amount of time it takes for me to update, I do have a life…oh wait never mind. Either way, onward! Onward with storytelling! HIYAAAAAH!**

_Death City_

"Gah…there's just no end to them!" said Soul from scythe form, Maka hacking through yet another Heartless.

"Yeah, getting to school shouldn't take this much work…" said Maka, stopping to take a breather for a second. Sora walked up to her then and gave her a reassuring pat on the back, the Keyblade held at his side. Goofy and Donald followed behind, taking out any Heartless that appeared behind them. Up ahead, a few blocks away, was Shibusen. And between the students and their target was a group of yet more Heartless, all staring toward them with their glowing eyes. It was obvious that their work was cut out for them, and they only had fifteen minutes before they were supposed to meet with Lord Death.

"I wonder what Lord Death wants to talk to us about, anyway. He canceled classes, but he wants us to come to the school to speak with him? What's up with that?"

"I don't know, Soul," Light answered as Sora dispatched another Heartless, "is there anything in this world that is supposed to be going on soon?" Maka chopped her way through a few more Heartless, giving a final little flourish behind her back to take up one trying to sneak up on her, getting a "Nice one," from her partner. She put her finger to her chin and looked up thoughtfully.

"Well, there's the Establishment Commemoration Festival. There's a dance the night before…maybe he's just going to tell us that's going to be canceled as well?" she said, taking a few steps forward and catching a jumping Shadow in the face with her boot, then crushing it underfoot, turning it into a cloud of darkness before it dissipated. The act was almost bored looking.

"As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be tomorrow night. It's such a big deal because Lord Death is going to be attending personally. Soul and I were supposed to go, as well as the others."

Sora nodded as they walked, then stopped and said, "Wait, a dance? Why would you guys have a dance?" Maka looked at him like he was an idiot for a moment before she spoke.

"Well…the Shibusen is a school…aaaaannd….schools have dances, don't they? Besides this is a pretty big deal since Lord Death is rarely ever seen outside the Death Room."

Sora nodded once again and took stance as three more Shadows approached him. As the first lunged, he sidestepped, dragging the Keyblade around in a circular slash, catching it and eliminating it instantly. The other two tried to flank around him, but he gave them no quarter, rushing the one in front of him and tossing his weapon at the other. Both were destroyed, but that didn't stop the twenty others appearing in their places.

"At this rate we'll never get there," he said, taking the Keyblade from the ground and putting it on his shoulder. At that moment, he watched as bullets rained down from the sky, taking out a good portion of the mass of Heartless. Maka looked up to the sky at this point, a small smile on her face.

"It looks like Kid has us covered with some air support. We'll make it…eventually."

_In the Death Room_

Even though it had taken them at least another hour to fight their way through the Heartless (Stein met them about half way and told them to go inside while he "took care of" the rest of them) they had still managed to make it to the Death Room. Lord Death stood before them, though he didn't seem his usual chipper self.

"The Heartless are becoming a bit of a handful. We know that Medusa Gorgon is responsible, along with a member of the Immortal Tribe who goes by the name of Free and another Witch by the name of Eruka Frog. Unfortunately, we have no idea what their plan is at the moment."

"Do we know where they are? If we can find them we can destroy them before they have a chance to act," Kid said critically, his voice serious. Black Star nodded enthusiastically at this plan, while Maka rolled her eyes and argued against it.

"If we just attack without a plan we're going to get killed. We need to figure out what they're planning before we do anything."

"You are correct, Maka," Lord Death said, "but so is Kiddo. I don't know what's going on, but we need to act soon. It's fairly obvious that we don't have a lot of time left, what with the Heartless gathering in such great numbers."

"You think they're planning something for that big party you guys were talking about earlier?" Sora spoke up, trying to be involved in the conversation. He hadn't spoken much and he wanted to be a part of things.

"Ah yes. The Commemoration Festival. Are you going to be canceling that father?"

"No."

"What?" they all said in unison, shocked at Lord Deaths decision. He merely looked back at them and tilted his head to the side like a confused dog.

"Lord Death, don't you think you should cancel that? I mean at least until we solve this Heartless problem?" asked Maka, taking a step forward. Lord Death merely shook his head.

"No, that won't be necessary. Besides, we can use the dance as an excuse to get all the people that haven't noticed the current situation. Those that are coming to the gala from outside the city limits will be in this group, undoubtedly." Lord Death answered decisively.

"Then…what did you call us here for?" asked Black Star

"Well, I want you all to be escorts."

"What? But what about Sid-sensei?" Black Star exclaimed, only to be quieted down by a giant white hand in his face.

"Sid is currently gathering information on Medusa for us as we speak. But that doesn't matter, anyway. This is an official mission for all of you, so I assume there will be no problems?"

_The Night of the Dance_

"All right, if everyone will just follow us, we'll be walking the rest of the way…" said Sora awkwardly to this rather large group of people. They had just left the limousine and were maybe three blocks away from Shibusen. Maka, Kid, and Black Star had all done the same before him, and all had experienced no problems. He hoped the same would go for him. Next to him stood his partner Light, who wore a no doubt fake smile on her face. He had to admit, she looked gorgeous. She was wearing a gold colored dress that went all the way down to the ground, open in a slit that went up her leg just above the knee. The trim was all silver, as were her high heels. There was a ribbon at the waist, also gold, with a silver Mickey Mouse symbol on the front. The top of the dress was much the same, slightly low cut with a button on the top (also in the shape of the Mickey Mouse symbol) that made this cut resemble a heart. On her neck she wore a white choker with a small key shaped pendant dangling from it. In her ear she wore the same earring she always did. Finally, her hair was tied up in a high, loose ponytail that made her hair hang somewhat messily over her head, but mainly back as would be expected.

Sora noticed he was staring when she eyed him almost curiously, and one of their charges said, "Umm..why do we have to be escorted to the gala? Is something wrong?"

"No," Sora lied unconvincingly, "nothing wrong, Lord Death just…uh…wants to make sure all guests outside of the school are treated properly, that's all. Anyway, if you'll just come with us, we'll lead you to Shibusen." The young boy himself adjusted his tie nervously as he turned and they began to walk. Sora himself was dressed in a formal suit with black pants, black shoes with metal shoe lace tips, and a black jacket with skull shaped buttons, with a red handkerchief in the breast pocket. Beneath the jacket, he wore a white dress shirt with a red tie the same color as the handkerchief. He had tried (or been forced, rather) to do something with his hair but it just spiked back up regardless of what he did.

"So…are you two a couple as well or…" one of the group asked from behind them, to which Light answered with a surprisingly happy tone.

"Oh yes, we've been waiting for this dance FOREVER!" Sora looked her over suspiciously, before she said to him quietly, "I suggest you play along to avoid suspicion. Take my hand."

"What?"

"Take it Sora," she said with finality and Sora did as she said. He supposed he could see why she would want him to hold her hand: in case any Heartless or pre-Kishins decided to show up, she could transform almost instantly and he could take them out. Also, it helped them to keep up the image they were trying to convey. Still…Sora couldn't help but feel kind of awkward about it. He'd never really held a girls hand before, at least not in this context. He could already feel his palms starting to get a little sweaty, and his heart was beating faster with every passing second. Was he excited? Afraid? He didn't know. All he knew was he was suddenly really nervous for no reason.

"Calm down," Light said from next to him as they walked. He was taken by surprise when he realized that if she was telling him to calm down, then she probably knew exactly what he was feeling. After all, it was through his heart that he was able to wield the Keyblade in the first place, wasn't it?

_"Does that mean she knows what I've been thinking, too?"_ he thought with fear, but wasn't able to come up with an answer as he heard a woman scream from behind him.

"What is that thing?" she asked in horror, and Sora turned to see a Heartless walking up from behind them. It was clad head to toe in blue armor, with silver trim. The helmet had two white horns on the front, and was open in a way that resembled an open maw: within could be seen the creatures glowing eyes, and on top was a black antenna. White spikes also protruded from the knees of the armor, and rather than hands the being sported two interweaving blades on either arm. On either shoulder pauldron could be seen a Heartless Emblem.

"Looks like a Zip Slasher," said Light before she transformed, getting "oohs" and "ahhs" from the people in the group who had never actually seen a Weapon before (unlikely but true.) Sora merely walked past the group to confront the Heartless, which stopped for a moment before taking stance, making a terrible grating noise as it did so, like grinding metal. Sora looked back at the group and smiled, giving them a thumbs up.

"Don't worry this will be over in just a minute. Every once in a while we get a little trouble like this, it's no biggie," he said confidently, but what he was really thinking was, _"Zip Slashers are tough…and of course I was the one that had to run into trouble."_

The Zip Slasher screeched again and ran forward while Sora put the Keyblade on his shoulder, a bored expression on his face. _"Am I trying to look cool in front of Light or something? I think Soul may be rubbing off on me."_

As the Zip Slasher closed in it did one of its signature moves: a spin attack. Sora dodged it easily enough, taking a quick "five-foot step" back out of the way. The creature then finished its combo by lunging forward with both sword arms, just barely missing Sora and catching his jacket sleeve, ripping the fabric. _"Awh…"_ Taking his chance, Sora brought the Keyblade down from his shoulder, striking the Heartless on the left shoulder. Following up his attack, he pulled it back and swung with all his might in a slash aimed directly for the beasts head. With a loud _clank! _the beast was sent sprawling to the ground. However, it wasn't long before it was up again, this time taking a running charge and leaping into the air before stabbing one of its arms into the ground, Sora rolling out of the way before it hit and bringing his own weapon down in a crushing attack. The Zip Slasher raised its other blade and blocked the attack, looking up at Sora almost as if it had intelligence, which of course the boy knew it didn't. Heartless were creatures of instinct, not intelligence.

The grating sound of the beings cry was near deafening this close, and Sora wasn't prepared for it. His grip loosened a little bit, and the Zip Slasher got the upper hand, hitting the Keyblade away and jumping upright, using the other arm to slash at the Keybearers chest. The blade connected and Sora was knocked back. He clutched at his now bleeding chest and thought, _"Well, this suit is ruined…ouch…"_

"Sora pay attention, here it comes again!" Light cried, and when Sora looked up he noticed the Zip Slasher was attacking like a cornered beast, slashing wildly while it took step after step forward. Soar knew that this behavior meant it felt threatened, and he smirked, dashing forward and taking advantage of its predictable attacks. It once more did its spin move, which Sora sidestepped, and when it once again lunged at him, he ducked down and rolled around behind it. Focusing his strength into the Keyblade with Lights help, he stabbed it in the back, forcing the blunt tip of the weapon through its armor. With a last grating cry, the beast disappeared in a flash, and its heart floated away, never to be seen again.

"I swear you are a magnet for trouble, aren't you?" asked Light, with what Sora thought was a hint of concern. She transformed and began to fidget over his only wound; something that he actually thought was amazing seeing as how Zip Slashers were nothing to be trifled with. Perhaps he was getting stronger. He could tell just from how it felt that he'd been hurt worse, and he grabbed her hand.

"Don't worry about it; I'll have Donald heal it up later. Let's just get these people to the Academy," he said to her quietly before noticing that the entire group was staring at them. "What?"

No response. Instead, one of the men in the group, a younger gentleman, began to nod his head and, after taking a quick look around, began to clap. The others began to join in, until Sora felt as if he were being applauded for some great feat. He blushed and scratched the back of his head (inadvertently getting blood in his hair) and then had an idea. He pulled Light next to him and bowed, pulling her with him. This only resulted in more applause and some laughter from the group. He did it again, and he heard Light giggle.

_"Wait, did she just…?"_

"Well," said one person from the crowd, an older gentleman with a handle bar mustache that was, for lack of better descriptive words, astonishing, "it seems you kids certainly know how to put on a show for us, eh?"

_At the Dance_

"Sora are you all right in there?" asked Light. He had asked that she not be in the room while he changed into another suit, identical to the one that had been damaged in the fight. Donald was inside as well, treating the wound. It seems that, on this world, the only magic that seemed less efficient was Cure.

"Yeah!" Sora yelled to the door, wincing as Donald passed his hands over another part of the cut. It was deeper than he had thought. "I'm alright, Light. It's just going to take a little longer to heal up than we thought." From the other side of the door he heard a male voice, probably Soul, say something about how he wished Donald had been around when he had gotten his chest scar before footsteps could be heard walking away.

"Hold still Sora, this will only take another second or so," Donald said, somewhat frustrated that his magic was working so slowly. Sora looked down to see the wizard (also decked out in a suit of sorts, but still wearing his hat for some reason) moving his hands over to the last part of the wound, green light flowing from his fingertips and sinking into the cut. That was the painful part, as well as the wound closing itself back up. It was effective though, and once Donald was finished, there was no trace of the wound, nor was there any scarring. The wizard stood and sighed, crossing his arms and admiring his work for a second before he left.

"We'll meet you out there, okay?"

"Okay," Sora replied, doing up his shirt. He looked up to see Donald open the door, and he took Light by the hand and begin to walk her away. She looked reluctant to go, something that puzzled Sora. He didn't know what was going on but something seemed….different. He could feel it in his heart as well. And that girl in his dream only intensified the feeling. She seemed full of emotion, and if she was a Keyblade, then why couldn't the same be said for Light? He didn't have an answer, but he was going to find out.

A few minutes later, Sora found himself in the middle of a giant dance floor, looking for his friends. In his search he came across Kid and the Thompson sisters, doing some strange dance where they all lifted their legs in unison. Sora got a chuckle out of that. Off in the distance he could see Black Star standing on a table trying to out-sing the music playing in the background while Tsubaki attempted with minimal success you get him down. Sora waded through the crowd as a slow song came on and couples began to form while other people left to go sit. He watched as one of these people, Maka, walked out toward the balcony.

Finally, he found Donald and Goofy, sitting at a table and watching the festivities. Goofy watched the dancers. Donald watched Lord Death, who was mingling with some of his staff. As Sora approached, the wizard looked at him and said, "What's that guy's problem, anyway? He knew I was no duckling!" Sora couldn't help but bust up at this: leave it to Donald to still be upset about something so trivial. Donald merely shook his head and looked away.

"So anyway, where's Light?" asked Sora, taking a seat and scanning the crowd. No sign of her. He looked over when Goofy patted his shoulder, who then pointed into the crowd. Following his finger, Sora saw what he was looking for. As some of the crowd dispersed at the end of the song, Light came into view, standing alone in the middle of the dance floor. Subconsciously, Sora felt himself stand and begin to walk toward her as another slow song came on. She noticed him when he was about half way to her and gave a little wave.

"Dance with me?" he asked when he reached her, holding out a hand for her to take. She took it and he put his free hand on the small of her back while she in turn put her free hand on his shoulder. And then, they began to dance: slow, steady steps that spun them around and around. Nothing fancy. Nothing special. Just dancing.

"You look nice…" Sora said awkwardly, averting his eyes when she looked into his.

"Thank you. Are you having fun, Sora?"

"Yeah…"

"That's good."

"Yeah…" Sora replied. Finally, Light took her hand and turned his face so that his eyes met hers.

"Is something wrong, Sora?" her voice sounded genuinely concerned.

"Well…something about the way you've been acting lately has got me thinking…"

_"Oh no…he knows…" _Light thought when he said this. She didn't want him to know just yet that she was…feeling things. Especially when she had told him that she couldn't feel in the first place! But she didn't let him see how nervous she had become, and said, "How do you mean?"

"Well…you act almost as if…you know…you can…!" Sora began, but was cut off by a loud voice echoing through the room. Everyone's heads turned to the battered zombie that had just entered.

"Stein! Lord Death! Get out of here!" cried Sid as he knelt down, holding his side. Professor Stein went to his friends side and they spoke, but not before Sora felt something odd in the distance: like magic being released.

_Outside_

The wolf-man Free stood upon one of the roofs of Shibusen, his hands held out to his sides as he worked his Spatial Magic. Meanwhile, Eruka Frog and Medusa were nearby, assisting him. Soon, a green box appeared around the ball room. Nearby, Xigbar watched with a sadistic smile on his face, his arms crossed and the twins at his sides. If he could master a technique like this one, not even Xemnas could get in his way…at least for a little while. Not that he wanted to take over or anything: that was what Marluxia and the other traitors wanted, and they had all been taken care of in Castle Oblivion.

_Inside_

Sid pulled the knife from its sheath and said, "Nygus, quickly! Soul Resonance!" The blade began to glow and change.

_Outside_

"Place confirm! Spatial Magic…Indepent Cube!" cried Free, and the green cube seemed to become more stable. He grinned wide and continued.

"Apparition of the key!" As he said this, a green key appeared, and set itself in the keyhole on the cube, "Fixed!"

_Inside_

"Come on!" Sid cried as the blade finished its transformation, now looking like his tombstone rather than a blade, and with a great cry he stabbed it to the ground.

"Compulsive Burial!"

There was a brief shockwave before coffins appeared behind Stein, Black Star and Tsubaki, Kid and the sisters, and Soul and Maka. Only one appeared behind Light, and the shockwave knocked Sora forward, sending both of them plummeting down into it. As he twisted in midair he could see the others falling in as well. He watched Donald and Goofy rush forward to try and save them, but they were too late.

_Outside_

"Locked!" cried Free, and the key clicked, causing several designs to appear on the surface of the cube. He took a look back and down at the city below, at the mayhem the Heartless were causing, then looked to Medusa and said, "I can hold it for an hour."

"Medusa flew over to him on the back of a giant snake and said, "That will be plenty of time. Let's go," before she went and landed next to Xigbar, who continued to smile.

"Looks like things are going to get much more interesting. Too bad I won't be able to hang around to watch." He began to walk away but stopped when he heard the violent voice of Medusa behind him, as well as the landing of Free and Eruka.

"The portal, Xigbar. You promised us a portal to the shrine underneath Shibusen."

"Oh did I? I guess I must've forgotten. But your information is a little off. Sure, I can get you a Dark Corridor down there, but you'll have to do a little walking to get there. I hope that doesn't bother you," he said back, his voice cocky.

"Just give us the portal, please?" said Eruka, trying as best she could not to laugh at the way he seemed to think so little of Medusa. She could tell just by the way his voice sounded. Xigbar put his hand to his chin, then turned.

"Alright, just for you, dimples," he said, raising a Corridor with his hand. Medusa shot him a venomous glance at him before entering, and he just winked (well…blinked) at her. Free followed, shrugging before stepping through, and Eruka followed him, eyeing the cloaked man suspiciously before entering. The Corridor vanished, and Xigbar once again smiled wide.

"Put on a good show, Keybearer."

**Sorry this one took so long, and sorry for the bad ending. I was trying to stay with the show but then I realized I'd already mentioned Medusa and therefore she couldn't be at the dance, so I improvised. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. Also, about the Zip Slasher fight, I know it shouldn't have been that easy but come on: the things have like…two attacks and eleven bars of health (in game) and a long drawn out fight would be really boring. Anyway, quick announcement, it seems that this story is coming close to an end. I haven't actually decided on whether I'll make a sequel, so hit me up on whether or not you'd like to see one. Lastly, my story "Witches Man, Witches" is on the home stretch to completion as well, so I'll be working on that one a lot. And I WILL be writing a sequel for that one, so when it's done keep a look out when it's done. Oh, and I told many of you that I would be deleting this to resubmit it, but thanks to adrogoz, I can update. Sorry for the inconvenience .  
**


	9. Race Against Time

**Okay, I'm sorry it took so long to update. My computer got all sorts of messed up and I've only recently gotten it fixed. But anyway, onward with writing and such, eh? Oh, and I'm making Crona a boy in this fic.**

"Is everyone all right?" asked the firm voice of Professor Stein as everyone righted themselves. Maka and Soul helped each other to their feet, as did Black Star and Tsubaki. KId and the sisters seemed to have landed the fall gracefully, like Stein and Spirit.

"Yes," said Light calmly, helping Sora to his feet as well, "Everything seems to be in order, Professor."

"Good. It seems we've be dropped down to the lowest level of Shibusen. Lord Deaths Vault should be nearby, and I would say that, whatever is happening here tonight, the answer will be found there."

"Why would the answer be there, Professor?" asked Maka. Kid cleared his throat and it was obvious that he knew something, but Stein beat him to it.

"The Kishin." Seeing the puzzled faces of everyone around him (excluding Kid and Spirit) Stein gave a heavy sigh and quickly told them all about the Kishin Asura, and how he was imprisoned beneath Shibusen. He also told them about how Lord Death had bound his soul to Death City, which explained why he could never leave the city. Sora just listened and nodded every once in a while, and the others did generally the same. Even the ever obnoxious Black Star said nothing. When he was done, Stein turned and began to walk away.

"We need to find them before they find Asura. Any Weapons should be tranformed right now," he said, his hands going to his pockets while all the Weapons in the group transformed. For the most part, the walk was uneventful, until...

"Doctor!" Maka cried, stopping.

"Yeah, I feel it too," Stein replied, his tone bored, while Maka gritted her teeth and continued.

"This soul...no doubt about it...this obcene and horrible sensation..." from the shadows stepped a man who had red hair and wore a black suit.

"DAD!" Maka finished with disgust.

_At the Vault Door_

A portal of pure darkness appeared before the door, and three figures stepped out of it: first came Medusa, a snakelike smile on her face. After her came Free, looking bored, and lastly came Eruka, looking paler than usual.

"Ugh...I don't feel so good after that," she said woozily, to which Medusa glared back in a "deal-with-it" kind of way, and the young Witch cringed a bit.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I feel fine," Free said matter-of-factly, and Medusa scoffed.

"Being immortal means the darkness doesn't affect you as much as it does us. Not that it really bothers me all that much anyway: I've been steeped in this darkness long enough that I don't even notice anymore." Medusa said, before opening the door and turning to the others.

"You two go on ahead. The goal is to get the Black Blood to Asura. You still have the briefcase, Eruka?"

"Of course, Medusa..." the young Witch said, hefting a large briefcase up before her. Medusa nodded then continued.

"I know we are being followed: I can feel them behind us, gaining with every second we waste dawdling. I'll hold them off as long as I can. And where is Crona?" As if on cue, another figure stepped through the portal before it vanished. It was a young boy with a thin body, short pink hair, and he wore a long black old-style robe that was tight fitting and ended at the mid calf.

"I feel funny after that...I don't know if I can handle that," the boy said, holding one arm while looking at the ground with his gray eyes. Medusa merely glared at him for a moment before she continued speaking.

"Stop whining, Crona. Now, I want Free and Eruka to go on ahead. You stay here, and should any of them get past me...take care of them."

"O...Okay..."

_Moments Later_

It wasn't long before the group heard the light footsteps coming toward them, and it was only moments after this that they came face to face with Medusa Gorgon. She had a snakes smile, and an arrow seeming to be made of black electricity could be seen just past her lips.

"Medusa," Stein said, a grim smile on his face.

"Stein."

"Get out of our way," said Sora defiantly, holding the Keyblade to his side. The Witch only smiled and turned her gaze at him, before she looked upon the Keyblade and said, "Quite the weapon you have there, Keybearer. I'm told it has the potential to unlock the untold powers of the 'heart.' Too bad it rests in the hands of such a...soft boy."

"I'll make you eat those words!" Sora retorted, holding his temper in check. He wasn't about to rush headlong into a fight, and the vibe he was getting from this woman was one of confidence and danger.

"Oh will you?" she said to him mockingly, "And waste your time battling me when you could be stopping the resurrection of Asura?" Sora, honestly, had no idea what was going on, and he was about to argue when Stein put a hand on his shoulder.

"She's right. We're wasting time. You guys go ahead: I'll deal with this one."

"Oh, it seems that you are under the impression that I'm going to let you by, Stein. You see, it's my intent that none of you leave this place alive." She said, raising her hands in preparation for battle. Stein looked back on his students.

"What she says is true. She's not just going to let us by. I'll take her on, and you need to get by...now." WIth that, Black Star acted impulsively, dashing at near lightning speeds past the Witch. She was caught off-guard, and turned to watchin him go, which gave Kid the chance to fly by on Beelzebub.

"Vector Arrow! All vectors target Maka!" Medusa cried as her spell shot hundreds of black, zig-zagging at the girl as she sprinted forward, doing the calculations in her head. Sora saw that the odds were highly stacked against her and so, being the 'hero' he was, he burst forward, catching up to her quickly and, before the vectors could hurt her, cut them with the Keyblade. This small act of heroism was enough for both of them to get past the now furious Witch, who turned to attack them once more.

"Medusa, don't you know never to turn your back on an enemy?" came the voice of Stein, insanity making his voice sinister and just a bit higher than normal. Medusa turned to see the scythe Meister right in front of her, scythe held back for the strike. Medusa backflipped out of the way of the attack, landing on the tail of her robe while crossing her legs. Her smile had returned.

"Well, I suppose we should begin then shouldn't we?"

_Meanwhile_

Sora heard the sounds of battle behind him, and turned back to gaze into the darkness. Maka had already gone ahead a bitfarther (he had no idea she could run so fast) so it was just him and Light.

"We should go back and help him..."

"We don't have the time to help him. We need to keep moving. I don't know who this Asura is but we don't have the time to stand around. Let's go!"

"Right," said Sora, taking one last hesitant glance back before continuing forward. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. And, if he would have looked around, chances are he probably would have noticed the pair of glowing yellow eyes in the shadows, contantly changing their position...following his every move.

**Sorry for both the shortness of the chapter and the length of time it took to post, I was busy with a few other projects. Still am, really. But hey it's summer time so I can write some more.**


	10. The Heartless Returns

**This is the last chapter chapter, followed by an epilogue. I've also had incredible writers block. There will be a sequel. Anyway, here's another chapter. Catch!**

It wasn't long before Sora heard the sounds of battle behind him fade and new ones made themselves present before him.

"Sounds like...Maka is in the middle of a fight now," Sora stated to his partner as he paused to catch his breath. He heard chilling laughter from the battle ahead and couldn't help but shiver. "Creepy..."

"At this rate we won't make it to the others in time..." Light said, and Sora made a mental note of the slight disappointment in her voice. However, it was quickly replaced by a more alert tone when she said, "We aren't alone here." Sora took stock of his surroundings, doing his best to take in as many details as he could in the dim lighting. He now found himself in a hall with stone pillars to either side. Some sported images of Lord Death in various poses, but most were blank and, in many cases, the pillars were cracked and worn. The shadows behind each held unknown dangers that kept the Keybearer cautious.

"What's that?" he said, when he saw what he had thought was a pair of Heartless eyes, but it was gone as soon as he took his second glancing.

"Whatever it is...it's waiting."

"Waiting for a chance for a surprise attack?" came the voice, the texture of it dark and foreboding...but oddly foreboding, "I wouldn't worry about that...from me at least. I couldn't say the same for Medusa." Sora turned to find the pair of eyes staring at him once again, and this time they didn't move. The Keybearer swung the Keyblade over his shoulder.

"If I don't have to worry then why won't you show yourself?" asked Sora.

"You won't like what you see," came the reply. Due to recent events, Sora had a good idea of what his enemy was: his Heartless form. Probably beefed up with the Black Blood if Medusa was involved. Oh well, he could handle it: a Heartless was a Heartless after all. Unfortunately, the voice had been right, and Sora felt his jaw drop from what he saw.

"Surprised to see me...Sora?" he asked, stepping forward out of the shadows to reveal the form of a boy slightly taller than Sora. His skin was all black and his eyes were yellow, as Sora had assumed it would be, but the hair was longer. What looked to be exposed muscles covered all but the neck, face, hands and feet, all of which were smooth (except for the feet, which looked more like the being were wearing boots.) Lastly, what appeared to be equally dark cloth hung from the waist. In it's hand was a sword made of shadow in the shape of a dragons wing.

"Riku...no there's no way you're him!" Sora cried out.

"Of course not, fool," the heartless said, his tone mocking, "I...am merely a creation: an experiment by the Witch Medusa. The Heartless have proven...useful to her causes."

"But...how did she make a Riku copy?" asked Light, her voice laced with concern. The Heartless picked up on this easily.

"The Keyblade...bane of my kind. That you have conciousness is disturbing. Now, to answer your question: the Organization."

"The Organization?"

"Yes. They have been working with the Witch for some time now...but that's a story for another day," he raised his sword in a fashion uncanny to that of his real counterpart, "I'm here to kill you." Without a seconds hesitation, the Heartless was in motion, his blade aiming for Sora's heart. Sora rolled out of the way of the attack only to find the Heartless standing before him again, blade raised high. Sora brought the Keyblade up and blocked the attack.

"You know, Keyblade," the Heartless said, "On this world you and I are a lot alike: both of us beings of great power...emotionless monstrosities meant only for the destruction of the other. Except that's not the case for you...is it?" Sora could imagine the cocky smile his aggressor would have at this point.

"Maybe so," said Light, "but I will never be like you! A being of darkness stealing the Hearts of the innocent!" With that, the Keyblade flashed with power, surprising the Heartless and giving Sora an opening. He struck out with his fist, causing his enemy to stumble back and then went on the offensive, rushing in and swinging the Keyblade expertly. The Heartless, not one to be taken lightly, blocked each attack as it was delivered, sending sparks flying with each metallic clash. Feeling the power surge through him, Sora leapt back and unleashed the final part of his attack: Ragnarok. He wasn't sure how effective it would be, but if it was as strong as it was when Light had used it before, then he assumed this would be over quickly. As the energy gathered, however, he was met with an unpleasant surprise.

"Think that's going to work? How pitiful!" the Heartless cried as an aura of darkness surrounded him before his eyes closed and he went into some sort of trance, "Eternal darkness...give me power!" At that, tendrils of shadow burst from the ground around him, bursting the building energy at the end of the Keyblade and wrapping around it. Others caught Soras legs and pulled him to the ground...hard.

"Sora!"

"I'm fine..." he said, forcing himself to his feet, using the Keyblade to cut away the shadows around his ankles, since they seemed unable to withstand the power of his weapon. That didn't stop the tendrils, however, and they relentlessly attacked the Keybearer. He deflected them deftly, his blade a blur. The Heartless merely laughed and charged forward, adding his own sword strikes to the frenzy. Sora was soon beginning to find himself unable to defend himself, and many of the blows were beginning to make contact.

"Sora, you need to fall back! You can't fight this much once!"

"No! I can do this!" he replied angrily, "If I can take on a thousand Heartless all at once, then I can take this guy! He'll regret trying to be Riku!" The Heartless laughed at this.

"That battle may have been a great genocide to my kind, but they were all ants in comparison to my power! I doubt even your friend could contend with me!" The tendrils whipped backward, allowing the Heartless in for a flurry of blows that basically destroyed the rest of his suit. Then, he kicked, slamming Sora into the wall, where he was quickly followed and bombarded by every tendril at the dark beings disposal. When they retracted, Sora was within a massive crater in the wall, unconscious. The Keyblade lay on the floor before him.

"Hah!" the Heartless said, walking forward as the tendrils retracted, merging with the shadows once more, "That's the power of the Keybearer? Don't make me laugh! And to think that Medusa was scared of you. Maybe I'll take her on next." As he neared, the Keyblade flashed and Light was standing before her Meister, arms held out defensively and her eyes flashing.

"Take another step and I'll show you just why you Heartless fear me!"

"A bit defensive, are you? Don't tell me you actually feel for this fool?" the Heartless said, taking that dared step. Light merely backed up a bit more to cover Sora more fully. The Heartless chuckled and raised his sword, the tendrils rearing up behind him once more.

"Guess we won't have to worry about this key anymore," the Heartless said, and Light prepared herself, knowing that fighting alone would be fultile. But she would protect him. She had to. It was about at this point that she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. She looked back to see Sora, his own eyes flashing as he stared down his opponent. A faint smile flickered across her features before she transformed back into the Keyblade while Sora forced his way out of the wall. He didn't know if anything had been seriously injured in the impact, but he wasn't about to let something like broken bones stop him from ending this guy.

"Ready Light?"

"Let's end this," was her reply as she began to glow with a bright white light. Their souls...no...their _hearts_ joined and in one powerful, unified voice they cried, "Soul Resonance! Final Form!" The light spread from the Keyblade to Sora, and in a surge of power his suit was gone, his enchanted armor and clothing underneath changing to a white color as another Keyblade, the Oblivion Keyblade, appeared in his free hand, and another voice rang out.

"It's about time I get some real action!"

"Oblivion!" Light cried.

"None other! Now lets show this one just what we do to Heartless!" Without missing a beat, Sora leapt forward, flying forward with an ethereal grace. The Heartless backed away, blocking attacks, and was shocked to find that the tendrils couldn't touch him: in fact, they couldn't even get within five feet of him before his radiance just sort of dissolved them. It wasn't long before Sora had his enemy cornered.

"Wait!" it cried, seeming to show genuine fear (something Sora wasn't sure could even actually happen), "Let me live, and I'll help you destroy the Witch, Medusa. I'll even help you take out the Organization, if I have to! Just spare my life." At this, Sora (who had been floating in place until that point) and kicked the now groveling creature to the floor. It raised it's arms defensively and looked...pathetic.

"The real Riku wouldn't beg me for forgiveness. Time for you to face judgment," Sora said, lifting both Keyblades high. Light engulfed both until it was impossible to tell there were two. Then, in a great swing, he brought the two weapons down, an arc of light trailing behind it, followed by a flash that was both beautiful and terrible, like a bolt of lightning.

"Sora?" asked Light, confused.

"What are you doing, Keybearer? Kill it!" Oblivion pretty much ordered. Sora said nothing, his eyes on those of the monstrosity before him, which was currently huddled in fear beneath him.

"You're pathetic," Sora said, spitting the words out as if they were acid, "and by all rights I should destroy you right now, and end all this." Sora then pried the Keyblades from the stone floor and turning away.

"And yet you don't...why?" the Heartless asked. Sora turned to look at the creature, Oblivion held at his side and the Kingdom Key on his shoulder, his power keeping him airborne.

"You're a monster, but like it or not you have conciousness...maybe even a heart. Lucky for you: if it were anyone else you'd be dead."

"Sora you can't be serious!" Oblivion cried, but the boy ignored her and continued. The Heartless stood and, with an angry growl, dashed at the boy.

"Save your pity, Keybearer! Didn't they teach you not to turn your back on an enemy?" he cried, but before he could make contact Sora had whirled on him, lopping off its left arm, which disappeared in a smoky haze as it howled in pain, collapsing and grabbing the spot its arm used to be.

"GRRR...I'LL DESTROY YOU KEYBEARER!"it cried out, and Sora turned to see darkness surround it once more. He prepared himself to finish the job, but something happened before the Heartless could attack.

"THE BLACK BLOOD WILL GIVE ME ALL THE POWER I NEED TO KILL YOU! I'LL-gck!" it cried before it fell again to it's knees, before it began to convulse as the Black Blood began to react violently within it, its form spiking all over. Sora ignored it, despite the small amount of guilt he felt for doing so, and flew through the halls with all the speed he could muster.

"Sora, you shouldn't have left that..._thing_ alive!" Light protested, but Sora didn't have time to answer her as an immense power rushed past him, and he knew that it was too late to stop the revival of the Kishin, Asura. When he finally arrived at the shrine, all he saw was Maka and Soul get dragged up through a hole in the ceiling. Black Star and Tsubaki were nearby (Tsubaki helping an injured Black Star to his feet) and Kid looking up after his friend. Sora wasted no time and pursued, using the power of the Final Form to launch himself up through the hole. He was soon met by the cool night air on his face. Ahead of him he saw the Kishin, and he targeted it.

"Sora what are you doing? asked Oblivion, while he held his weapons ready. As he neared He watched Maka and Soul fall back behind him. He watched as they hit the ground (Soul taking the brunt of the fall for his Meister) and that only fueled his determination. Soon, he was face-to-face with the man.

"Get ready to meet your maker!" Sora cried, swinging his weapons, but the Kishin only deflected them with his arm. The rush of power was actually enough to knock Sora and Light out of sync, and with a sarcastic wave the monster pushed him. Nothing more, just a light push to the chest, but the effect was sending Sora to the ground like a meteorite. After that, everything faded to black.

**To make a few things clear, I was referring to the suit of armor Riku usually sports in the description of the Heartless. It was the way I've always seen it so sorry if it sounds kinda...morbid. Also, stay tuned for the epilogue, which should help set up a kind of cliff-hanger mood. Anyway, please R&R and always, and thanks for reading!**


	11. Epilogue

_Infirmary_

Sora's eyes fluttered open to the bright fluorescent lights above him. His back was killing him, and he just felt so...tired. Above him he heard continuous murmuring of someone above him. He recognized the voice instantly as his long-time, if sometimes fowl, friend Donald. He looked over to see the duck with his eyes closed, his brow furrowed in concentration. Whatever he was doing, Sora had never seen Donald put so much effort into his Cure magic, and he was touched. He started to sit up, but he felt a hand on his chest.

"Hold on Sora," came the voice of Goofy, somewhat alarmed, "Let Donald patch up some of those gashes first." Sora did as he was bade, and after a few moments the duck stopped his ministrations and the two friends helped the Keybearer to sit up.

"So...what happened, guys?"

"I'll answer that," said Lord Death as he entered the room, closing the door lightly behind him. The look of his overly large white hands made Sora laugh a little, only for the boy to regret the action as pain shot through his body.

"It seems that Medusa's plan went through, despite your actions," Lord Death said bluntly, "but don't beat yourself up about it: there wasn't much you could do, from what I heard from Professor Stein. He was able to kill Medusa, if you were wondering."

"And what about the Heartless? The one that looked like my friend Riku?" asked Sora, mildly wondering whether or not it had lived or died.

"No, I'm afraid there was no special Heartless at the scene. Then again, it seems that Medusa's colleagues had also been able to escape the scene, so anything is possible I suppose.

"And...the Kishin?" Lord Death sighed at the boys question, before saying sadly, "The Kishin escaped. After you had been knocked unconcious, I was able to battle him for a time, but alas he escaped my reach before I could finish him."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Sora, trying to stand while ignoring the pain. Lord Death merely stopped him with a chuckle and one giant hand on the boys chest. Sora looked up at the death god, confused.

"No. The Keybearer has a duty to all worlds, not just this one. Besides: you've done enough for us here. You may not have found the Keyhole, but you have helped in eiliminating the Heartless threat on our world."

"But.."

"No buts, Sora. The Kishin isn't your problem: it's ours. We'll take it from here," the man said, his tone somewhat harsh and holding an air of finality that stopped Sora in his tracks. He sat back as the Reaper left, a look of disappointment on his face.

"Don't worry, Sora," Donald started, "everything will be okay here without our help. We have to find Riku, remember?"

"And the King!" Goofy finished.

"Right," Sora agreed, but he wasn't sure his friends knew the _exact_ reason that he was down. In all honesty, he wasn't ready to leave...and he hoped he would have time to do and say the things he wanted to before they left.

_Aboard the Gummi Ship, Liftoff._

Sora looked over to the seat next to him, which was currently occupied by his Weapon partner. She was gazing out the window with a hand against the glass. Outside, only Soul and Maka stood, watching as the ship made it's ascent. Soul merely stood with his hands in his pockets, while Maka waved with a big goofy smile on her face that Sora was surprised the girl was capable of. She always seemed kind of bossy to him, but he assumed everyone had their own little quirks. Donald and Goofy were sitting in the front of the ship, absorbed in what they were doing. Taking this moment of improvised privacy, Sora spoke.

"Hey...Light?" the girl turned to him, and for the first time he saw genuine emotion on her face. On the inside, he laughed at the knowledge that he had been right, but it hurt him that the emotion she had chosen to display was one of sadness. Sadness, and a grim acceptance at what their departure meant. Sora stammered, trying to find the right words but came up with nothing. He had never been good with girls anyway, but he still cursed himself for it. Finally, Light closed her golden eyes and smirked, before speaking, her voice soft and almost inaudible.

"It's okay, I understand," she said, before practically leaping into his arms. They held each other for a moment, before gazing into each others eyes.

"I guess I should thank you...Sora. It was you that let me feel this way," she blinked back a tear, "I just wish it didn't have to end so soon." Sora said nothing, merely wiping away the tear. The two gazed long into each other, their faces nearing.

Closer

Closer

Closer still. Love stories, however, don't always have a happy ending, and just as they were about to make contact, the Gummi Ship was off-world. Light glowed for a brief moment before becoming the Keyblade once more, resting on the floor before the Keybearer. He blinked back his own tears and looked up to see both of his friends looking at him with sympathy.

"I'm sorry, Sora."

"It's okay," said the Keybearer, picking up his weapon. He place it on his lap slowly, not noticing the small bead of water that rolled down the blade. It hung on the end for a moment before falling to the floor without a sound.

_"I'll be back."_

**And that's it. Sorry for the bad pun I put in there: I couldn't resist. I'll be starting the sequel..soon, after I get a little further on some of my other stories. Thank you so much for reading, and I'll try to make the sequel as good as this one...might have been? I have no idea how good this one was in the first place but thanks for all the good reviews and stuff. Keep reading!**


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